Govt against GM seed trials: Kerala Agri Minister.

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Government against GM seed trials: Minister

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Move will guard State’s spices Says Swaminathan panel has opposed GM trialsRules out any knowledge of field trials in Palakkad

http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/15/stories/2008061554830500.htmThiruvananthapuram: Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran has

reiterated the State government stand against field trials of

genetically modified seeds.

Addressing the “National Summit on GM Crops,†organised by the

Sastra Vedi, an arm of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, here on

Saturday, Mr. Ratnakaran said the decision not to allow field trials

would protect Kerala’s spices which had a large market in European

countries that were opposed to GM crops and food.

The situation was serious enough for India to declare the basmati

growing tracts of Western India as GM free zone, he said. Besides, M.S.

Swaminathan Committee report had opposed GM trials in biodiversity

hotspots of the Western Ghats and the Himalayas.

The State Government stand was that the trials should not be

conducted when the entire world was debating the pros and cons of GM

crops and food. Even in the U.S., which had adopted GM crops in a large

scale, the debate was going on with farmers, academics and

environmentalists opposing huge multinationals such as Monsanto.

Environmentalists had opposed GM crops on the ground that it was

against nature.

Out of the 147 countries that participated in the recent U.N. bio

safety conference in Bonn, 146 had opposed GM crops. The U.S. was the

only supporter of GM crops, Mr. Ratnakaran said.

He recalled how the approval committee for BT cotton could not give

a fair answer to the Supreme Court’s queries on its impact on health.

Subsequently, the court inducted Dr. Swaminathan and Pushp Bharghava to

re-examine the issue. Mr. Ratnakaran said the claims that BT cotton had

led to increase in productivity was debatable, considering the high

farmers’ suicide rates in the cotton belt of Andhra Pradesh and

Maharashtra.

He also referred to the connection between the country’s fight

against imperialism and cotton during the freedom struggle to emphasise

that the country should be wary of such forces.

Referring to the reported field trials in Palakkad, the Agriculture

Minister said the State government would not allow field trials till

there was a consensus on the issue. Besides, the farmers, the State

government and other stakeholders were not informed about the trials,

he said. He called for more debates on issues related to productivity,

impact on human, biodiversity, culture and life styles."It is now 30 years since I have been confining myself to the treatment ofchronic diseases. During those 30 years I have run against so many histories of littlechildren who had never seen a sick day until they were vaccinated and who, in the severalyears that have followed, have never seen a well day since. I couldn't put my finger onthe disease they have. They just weren't strong. Their resistance was gone.. They wereperfectly well before they were vaccinated. They have never been well since. "---Dr.. William Howard Hay

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