The lack of approval of genetically modified (GM) crops since the introduction of Bt cotton in 2002 signals a dormant regulatory environment that fails to consider the benefits reaped by modern technologies to enhance India’s agriculture sector.
Citing double earnings by Maharashtra and Gujarat farmers who adopted Bt cotton, a report by a think-tank on [April 15] claimed there is a scope to see similar success in the adoption of Bt brinjal, provided regulatory hurdles for GM crops are removed.
Therefore, decoupling politics and ideologically-driven positions from the science on GM is the key if India were to adopt technologies that boost its agricultural ecosystem, which will benefit farmers, consumers and society at large, it said.
Answering skepticism — for example, the perceived unnaturalness of GM crops due to the human intervention of introducing a new gene — has presented the policymakers with an arduous task, one that involves navigating through the sharp GM divide.
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“An independent regulator that is able to take decisions without being swayed by politicians or activists is one way out of this,” the report recommended.
