Tamil Nadu farmers against GM mustard commercialisation

Chennai: State farmers and environmental activists have urged the Chief Minister to write to the Centre opposing the move to commercialise Genetically Modified (GM) mustard.

They said the Centre’s move was “ non sovereign” to agriculturalists. It defied the AIADMK’s manifesto which promised non-cooperation to GM products.
Requesting the Chief Minister to not compromise on state sovereignty, the activists put forth the ecological and health impacts over the use of GM products, introduced by Delhi University.

“Welcoming GM crops will decline the native varieties. Ninety per cent of the 1,600 types of rice in Tamil Nadu have already become extinct. We barely have 10 per cent of  430 varieties of  brinjal which were once prevalent,” said A.P. Ravindran, state secretary, Association of farmers’ federation.

Genetically modified mustard will have an adverse affect on economics and livelihood of farmers as the input cost would soar up, said Ananthoo of Safe Food Alliance.

The Centre has also violated the Supreme Court’s 2008 order, which mandated the regulatory body to publish the data in public domain, said environmentalists. Challenging the Centre with other alternative methods, Kavitha Kuruganti of Alliance for sustainable and holistic agriculture demanded the government to take up seed-based technologies to improve seed production. “By introducing GM mustard, the government is showcasing itself as bringing down the edible oil price. Why not try system of mustard intensification which produces double the yield than GM mustard,” Kavitha asked.

Trying out other ways of planting, irrigation and transplanting seedlings involve mustard intensification system. “Mustard cultivation can be developed in South India as a delayed crop after paddy; it could boost up 50 per cent of productivity,” Kavitha said adding that no state, except Telangana, encourages GM crops.