AAP condemns illegal field trials for GM crops

Contrary to the decision of his predecessors, the SC appointed Expert Committee and the Parliamentary Standing Committee’s recommendations

At a time when the country is facing an agrarian distress as well as serious malnutrition issues due to misdirected policies in food and farming, it is unfortunate that the Congress-led UAP’s central government is promoting false technofixes like GM crops which neither would solve the issue of farmer distress nor that of hunger and malnutrition.

On the one hand, scientific evidence and scientists voices on the adverse impacts of GM crops to human health and environment are increasing, and on the other experiences with BT cotton also show that the only entity that is benefiting from the introduction of GM crops are the big seed corporations which get monopolistic control over our seed sector.

It is to be remembered that seed sovereignty is akin to national sovereignty in an agrarian country like ours and it is unacceptable that the UPA govt plans to sell our swaraj/sovereignty lock stock and barrel to biotech seed companies.

The hasty move by the Union enviornment minister M Veerappa Moily of permitting open field trials of hundreds of GM crop varities across the country in this regard is highly condemnable. It is unacceptable that Mr Moily went ahead to give permissions for these field trials even when a parliamentary standing committee on Agriculture comprising of MPs from various political parties including Congress party and other UPA allies had reccomended against such field trials. The Supreme Court appointed Technical Expert Committee (TEC) comprising of eminent scientists also had highlighted the scientific evidence on adverse impacts of GM crops and the failure of the existing regulatory system in their final report submitted to the court in July last year and strongly reccomended against any open releases including for experimental trials.

The haste with which Veerappa Moily is trying to approve field trials of risky untested GM crops before the hon'ble court is going to hold a hearing on the final TEC report in April 2014, just a month away shows the undue interest the minister has on getting these GM crops out in to fields. Read along with the skyrocketing of share prices of companies like Monsanto, the US multinational seed giant after the appointment of Veerappa Moily as Minister for Environment and Forests points to potential scam that is waiting to be exposed. The history of GM crops across the world has also shown the nexus between such unholy alliances between criminal corporations like Monsanto and corrupt policy makers.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) condemns the action of Veerappa Moily to approve these field trials and make this country a laboratory for risky GM crops and demand that all field trials be stopped and an enquiry initiated on the undue hurry of the minister's action.

Source Link: http://www.aamaadmiparty.org