Context:
India’s challenging journey with genetically modified (GM) food crops reached another milestone last week. A two-judge Bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Sanjay Karol from the Supreme Court of India delivered a split decision on whether to allow GM mustard in farmers’ fields.
Relevance:
GS3- Biotechnology
Mains Question:
GM crops might not be perfect, but what matters is that they are useful. Discuss this in the context of the ongoing discussions about GM Mustard. (10 Marks, 150 Words).
Current Status of GM Crops:
- Currently, the only GM seed permitted in India is cotton. The increase in cotton yield encouraged both private and public agricultural institutions to develop GM seeds for food crops like rice, wheat, tomato, brinjal, and mustard, though none have been released yet.
- This is central to the story of DMH-11, or Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11, developed under a publicly funded project at Delhi University’s biotechnology department.
- The genes in this plant make it attractive to private seed companies for creating new hybrid varieties.
What is GM Mustard?
- Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11) is a transgenic mustard developed indigenously.
- It is a genetically modified variant of Herbicide Tolerant (HT) mustard, resulting from a cross between the Indian mustard variety ‘Varuna’ and the East European ‘Early Heera-2’ mustard.
- It contains two foreign genes (‘barnase’ and ‘barstar’) derived from a soil bacterium called Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, enabling the breeding of high-yielding commercial mustard hybrids.
- DMH-11 has demonstrated approximately 28% higher yield than the national average and 37% more than regional averages. Its use has been endorsed and approved by the GEAC.
- The “bar gene” ensures the genetic purity of the hybrid seed.
Approval of DMH-11:
- For crops to be approved in India’s agricultural system, they must be tested over three seasons in various agro-climatic zones and prove consistently superior to existing varieties.
- Trials over three years by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research indicated that DMH-11 met these criteria.
- This led the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), a scientific advisory body under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, to approve DMH-11 in October 2022, subject to certain tests.
- However, environmental groups claim that DMH-11 is a ‘herbicide-tolerant’ crop, genetically engineered to compel farmers to use specific pesticides, with harmful environmental effects.
- They allege that the developers were not transparent about this information.
- These findings, along with the GEAC approval, have been challenged in court by Aruna Rodrigues and the organization Gene Campaign.
Ruling of the Supreme Court:
- The judges had differing opinions on whether the GEAC’s actions were appropriate. Justice Nagarathna argued that the GEAC had violated the “precautionary principle,” which dictates that any new organism or technology should be restricted unless its consequences are thoroughly considered.
- Justice Karol, on the other hand, appeared satisfied with the GEAC’s process. As a result, the case has been referred to a larger Bench led by the Chief Justice of India.
- A significant outcome was the Court’s directive to the Centre to develop a policy on GM crops.
- The debate over GM crops is primarily ideological rather than based on traditional agricultural measures like yield and farm economics.
- This is highlighted by India’s agricultural history, where past solutions like hybrid seeds and synthetic fertilizers, while boosting yields and productivity, have also caused environmental damage.
Conclusion:
In their decisions, both the Court and the government should remember that pursuing the good should not be seen as opposing the perfect.
