In January of 2014, the Supreme Court [of Nepal] issued an interim order to. . . prohibit imports of genetically modified (GM) seeds . . . .
The ban remained in effect until January 16. The court was to decide earlier this year whether the stay order should be continued.
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. . .[In] in the developing countries there is also an ethical obligation to explore the potential of GM crops responsibly. . . .
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. . . .GMO foods promise to meet the needs of the developing countries in a number of ways. . . . Pest resistance, disease resistance and cold, drought, herbicide, salinity tolerance of the GM crops could . . . achieve sustainable agriculture and free the developing world from poverty, hunger and malnutrition. . . .
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Conversely, acceptance of this technology without paying attention to the legal conditions may distress the poor farmers in developing countries.
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. . .[T]here needs to be strict guidelines on the kind of allowable GMO experiments. . . .[P]rotocols should also be drafted to regulate the production of GMO foods and seeds. Only then can the GMO bring about the kind of revolution its champions have . . . promised.
The author is a food technologist and a Livelihood Officer at Friends Service Council Nepal, an NGO
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: The GMO debate
