Seeds and protests

The UPA government's decision to allow field trials in GM food crops may have human and economic costs.

VENKITESH RAMAKRISHNAN in New Delhi

"THERE is greater attention of the public and political parties on issues such as fuel price hike, essentially because the impact of such measures on the everyday lives of people is more direct and immediate. But an issue such as the proposal to introduce large-scale field trials and seed production of a genetically modified (GM) food crop does not evoke the same kind of attention, though the long-term negative impact on society is comparatively higher. Our struggle is on and we know it will be long-drawn-out." Devinder Sharma of the Coalition for GM free India (CFGMFI) comments thus about the campaign launched by his organisation against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's move to initiate field trials and seed production of four hybrids of the transgenic Bt Brinjal. Members of the CFGMFI, a loose confederation of about 20 organisations and groups working in sectors including agriculture, consumer rights, organic farming, women's issues, medicine and environmental protection have been camping in New Delhi since the first week of June to generate awareness about the consequences of the GM food crop trials and get the government to drop the proposed move.

The government announced that it was considering a proposal to carry out the first ever GM food crop trials on May 25 rather quietly through a press release of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The press note, which was released even as the debate on the fuel price hike dominated media headlines, also announced other Ministry decisions. These included importing GM soybean oil and, commercially releasing Bt cotton hybrids developed by companies such as Nath Seeds, J.K. Seeds and Mahyco, the Indian subsidiary of the international corporate Monsanto. The press note also stated that the Bt Brinjal proposed by the UPA for field trials was, in fact, developed by Mahyco. All these decisions were apparently cleared by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) under the Ministry. Though the press note did not make specific references, there were indications from the Ministry that the GEAC perceived the Bt Brinjal trials as a forerunner to trials involving other food crops such as mustard, potato and tomato.

According to the CFGMFI, these decisions have far-reaching implications for agriculture and health . This is especially so giventhe contentious results that experiments with Bt cotton have produced in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. The CFGMFI leadership pointed out that negative consequences were all the more likely because the GEAC had said that the Bt gene being used for the brinjal trials was the same as the one used in Bt cotton.

It appears that the same set of tests carried out when Bt cotton was introduced in the country is now being applied for Bt Brinjal. The tests were essentially devised by Monsanto; the company has proclaimed that the Bt cotton seed it supplied to India was safe. However, reports from the States in which Bt cotton was introduced have indicated that the tests against effects on human health were not as foolproof as claimed by the company. Most farmers and farm workers in different States have experienced longstanding allergies of different kinds. More recently, reports from Andhra Pradesh indicated a rise in sheep mortality after grazing on Bt cotton. According to the CFGMFI, some scientific investigations have even pointed to a clear correlation between exposure to Bt Cotton and the adverse health conditions seen among farmers.

The CFGMFI asserts that studies have established that the Bt gene is a known toxin that affects human and livestock health adversely. A note submitted by the organisation to Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Anbumani Ramdoss states: "Published, peer-reviewed papers by scientists demonstrate that recombinant Cry1Ac protoxin in the Bt gene is a powerful immunogen and when fed to mice, induced antibody responses similar to those obtained with the cholera toxin. Research shows that Cry1Ac actively binds to the inner surface of the mouse's small intestine. This contests the often-heard argument that Cry proteins do not affect mammals since they supposedly do not have receptors that bind the truncated toxin in the gut."

Given these results, the CFGMFI points out, the consequences of trials with a food crop, indeed a vegetable crop that will be consumed directly, are unimaginable. The coalition argues that that introduction of the Bt gene in the food crop sector has the potential consequence of genetic manipulation. However, the position of the Ministry of Environment, as expressed by GEAC, is that the bio-safety package has been completed for brinjal and there are no reasons to stop large-scale field trials.

The Ministry proposes field trials of four hybrid varieties of different shapes and colours. It contends that the Bt gene provides protection against pests such as shoot and fruit borer and helicoverpa (bollworm). The Ministry argues that though the Bt gene used in brinjal is the same as the one in Bt cotton, more extensive bio-safety tests have been carried out since brinjal is a food crop. Ministry officials told Frontline that this time the toxicity study was conducted on mice, fish, poultry, rabbits, goats and cattle.

Apart from health concerns, the commercial dimensions of the exercise are also being questioned. There is a widespread perception, shared even by some State Agriculture Ministers belonging to the Congress, that the manner in which GM seeds are promoted is beneficial only to private companies, particularly big multinational corporations like Monsanto. The National Commission on Farmers headed by Professor M.S. Swaminathan has recommended that "the public sector must come up with competitive Bt cotton hybrids so as to lower the seed cost and benefit resource-poor farmers". He has highlighted the need to develop non-hybrid Bt cotton varieties to enable the reduction of seed prices, and to help farmers to retain their own seeds and to share them. But in almost every segment, companies such as Mahyco have held sway over the development and distribution of Bt seeds.

Such monopolies have had a negative effect on trade practices.In early June Agriculture Ministers and senior officials of seven cotton-growing States met in Hyderabad. They appealed to the Central government to join them and implead in the case against Monsanto on the pricing of Bt cotton seed. The meeting also called for a regulatory body to be set up to fix the trait value (a form of royalty charge) for technology products, which was being used by companies like Monsanto to extract unfair prices from farmers. For every 450 gm of seeds sold in India, Monsanto charged a trait value without any rationalisation. The trait value was first fixed (in 2004) at Rs.1,200 for 450 gm and increased to Rs.1,250 in 2005. It was reduced to Rs.900 for the kharif season in 2006. However, the trait value in the United States has remained at the equivalent of Rs.300 for the same weight for many years. The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (TPC) took note of this in May and asked Monsanto to reduce the trait value in India. The Hyderabad meeting, chaired by State Agriculture Minister Raghuveera Reddy and attended by Ministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Gujarat government, the Janata Dal (S)-led Karnataka government and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) -led West Bengal government, called upon all cotton-growing States to unite and fight the Monsanto monopoly.

Even as such calls go out, the Manmohan Singh-led UPA Ministry has opened up new areas for Monsanto. The Left parties referred to this trend in a note submitted at the UPA-Left Coordination Committee meeting on June 15. The note pointed out that "the Seeds Bill piloted by the Ministry of Agriculture seeks to subvert the seed rights of farmers and facilitate monopolisation of the seed business in the hands of the multinational seed companies. The Indo-U.S. Knowledge Initiative on Agricultural Research and Education ... has not only empowered Wal-Mart and Monsanto to dictate the agenda of agricultural research in India but also ensured that such research will be largely funded by the U.S.-based multinationals and therefore tied to the stringent intellectual property regime of the U.S."

The campaign on Bt Brinjal trials is, for the time being, carried forward primarily by organisations such as the CFGMFI. Many political parties may not accept the outright rejection of GM technology propounded by segments of the CFGMFI and a section of academics and activists.

However, the human and economic dimensions of the propagation of GM seeds in India and the wide-ranging political reaction it has evoked indicates that the issue could well be another political front against the UPA's neoliberal policies.