Great news from the Land of Promises:
Genetically modified crops are order of the day: Govt
17 Sep, 2007, 1710 hrs IST, PTI
NEW
DELHI: India should accept that genetically modified seeds is the
solution to feed the growing population and reduce the pressure on
land, a top government official said.
"If we like it or not,
transgenics are the order of the day," Indian Council of Agricultural
Research Director General Mangala Rai said at a conference on
agricultural biotechnology organised by industry chamber FICCI.
He
pointed that India will have a population of more than five billion by
2050 and the pressure on land would increase by 4-6 times.
Rai
said due to adoption of GM crops "resistance has increased, pesticides
consumption has reduced and productivity has increased".
He
added when other seeds can produce one kilo rice by utilising 3,000
litres of water, why should there be opposition, if GM seed can have a
better yield with less water.
Rai also said when oilseeds like
castor have improved yield because of use of transgenic seeds, there
should not be any resistance against it.
In Gujarat, castor
seeds productivity is estimated at 17 quintal per hectare against all
India average of four quintal, Rai said.
FICCI Biotech Committee
Chairman Krishna M Ella said India would be the hub for world seed
production in the next few years. Agri-biotech is growing at 15 per
cent per annum, he added.
Another news item from Reuters on the same subject:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUKDEL3447220070917This
is something that I have been waiting since long time ago. Almost seven
years. Not exactly from India, but from any government. And now, it has
happened. Despite the claims of environmentalists about risks for
health, despite the lies and fake reports by some environmentalists,
which I have personally witnessed here and that crippled our emerging
bioengineered crops of papaya, despite all that, finally officers in
the government have acknowledged the importance of GM crops for our
future, with almost exactly the same arguments that a lot of us have
been using during the last decade.
I won't engage here in
rants about the contradictions of accepting hybrid crops (that mix a
lot of unknown genes) like wheat, and refusing to accept crops in which
only a couple of genes is different from the parental variety. I only
will say that I am happy that finally reason has triumphed, at least in
India, I hope more undeveloped countries follow India's example and not
only give permission to plant GM crops created by the industry, as
Argentina does, but also create their own varieties and crops according
to their particular needs. And I hope this is done under an OS approach
with a license analogue to Copyleft. Those would be great news not only
for the poor people, but also for a lot of scientists around the world,
who would benefit from the creativity of other and would be able to
contribute themselves to this noble endeavor.
This is a very
happy day for me and for a lot of people. And India again is showing us
that it takes seriously further development in science and technology.
This is a lesson and a warning for developed countries, they have
achieved a high living standard thanks science and technology and now
can ignore it and scorn it, praise primitivism and older times and give
almost null importance to scientific literacy, but India could show
that the future is going to be tough for those who chose that path.