Despite last-minute clearances given to stalled field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops by former environment minister Veerappa Moily, seed companies have failed to benefit so far. With the brief window left in the ongoing sowing season, they remain hopeful and are mounting pressure on the new government to ease procedural requirements.
Among the UPA government’s many attempts to woo India Inc. in its final days was its approval of field trials for GM crops. However, the failure to officially intimate the seed companies of these approvals meant that field trials could not be undertaken at the beginning of the kharif season. Plus, the clearance given on 27 February came with the rider that state governments must approve the trials on a per-crop basis, leading to further delays, claim seed companies.
Any new trials this year are subject to states granting no-objection certificates (NOC). In principle, states like Gujarat, Punjab and Maharashtra have approved the trials. But even with the in-principle approvals, there are crop-by-crop variations — for example, the unwillingness of Punjab to permit GM potato field trials. Again, states like Odisha and West Bengal have flatly refused to permit GM trials. The delay in issuing NOCs, along with other administrative protocols of tying up with the local agricultural institute or university and locating and leasing land, has left very little time in the current sowing season, say seed companies which complain of huge economic and time setbacks.
Read the full, original article: Food For Thought
