Dr. Suman Sahai

Gene Campaign
Phone:+91 11 29556248    Email: genecamp@vsnl.com
11 February 2006

 INDIA READIES TO PAY IN AGRICULTURE FOR NUCLEAR DEAL WITH US

Gene Campaign has described as extremely disconcerting that India is preparing to pay in the agriculture sector for the concessions that it is seeking from the US in the nuclear field.  The Indo- US initiative  on agriculture that was announced by the Prime Minister during his summer visit to the US, is a one-sided affair from which India will gain little and give far too much.

The Americans want unhindered access to India's gene banks.  India’s considerable genetic wealth stored in its gene banks will become available to the Americans for free under the guise of this unequal agriculture agreement.  India's unique IPR law called the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Act (PPVFR) , the only law in the world which is TRIPS compliant but still grants legal rights to farmers, will come under threat from American pressure.  The Americans along with Ag- multinationals like Monsanto have been lobbying for a change in India's IPR law to introduce patents on seeds and genes and do away with the provisions for protecting farmer’s rights. A combination of physical access to the gene banks and an IPR law that allows seed patents will deliver   India’s genetic wealth into American hands.  This will constitute a severe blow to India's ability to be food sovereign and food secure in the long run.

Dr Suman Sahai of Gene Campaign said that progress in agricultural biotechnology has thrown up one very clear fact, that technology rich countries like the US do not have the raw material needed for biotechnology, which are genetic resources.  Intellectual property rights regimes in the form of TRIPS/ WTO are the instrument to gain access to developing country bio resources.  Not surprisingly one of the main features of the India - America agriculture deal is  IPR, the other, equally unsurprisingly, is agricultural biotechnology.

With respect to agricultural biotechnology, it is crucial that India retains the option to decide what transgenic crops and products are suitable and required for its agriculture.  American intervention in this area is likely to force genetically engineered crops and foods not because they are required here but because they are being rejected elsewhere. India must be cautious that it does not become the dumping ground for a technology and its controversial products that have been rejected in many parts of the world.

Given the aggressive one- sided nature of the America -India initiative, who ultimately will be deciding India’s Agbiotech policy? The MS Swaminathan Task Force on Agbiotechnology has recommended  that India's policy on transgenic crops should be sensitive to biodiversity conservation and the social- economic context of our composite agrarian system, which means essentially that the rights of farmers and their livelihoods must not be jeopardized by any genetically engineered crops. In addition, the Task force says that genetically engineered traits (like Herbicide Tolerance) that reduce labor and employment opportunities by taking away the income opportunities available in India's traditional cropping patterns, should not be allowed. Also, that transgenic research in India should take into account the international market, recommending that transgenic research should not be done on crops that we export, like soybean.

Dr Sahai noted that the recommendations of the MS Swaminathan Task Force are directly in conflict with the American biotech agenda. The principal traits the Americans wish to promote are in fact Herbicide Tolerance and Bt and one of the major crops the Americans promote is in fact soybean. Does that mean that the Indo- US agriculture initiative will trash the Swaminathan Task Force recommendations?

The fact that American mega corporations Monsanto and Wal-Mart come as board members of the Indo- US Knowledge Initiative on Agricultural Research and Education is alarming enough but the fact that the Indian side is represented by some bureaucrat from the agriculture Ministry apart from the DG of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), shows how unequal this whole initiative is slated to be. According to a report in leading English daily, this initiative is being steered by Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia of the Planning Commission. By all accounts, the Americans seem to be calling the shots, deciding the sectors they want included in this deal.  The Indian scientific establishment is almost entirely excluded from this initiative, as are the state governments, despite agriculture being a state subject

It is not out of place to emphasize a simple truth here, that food security is an integral part of national security and that all  India's efforts in the nuclear arena to shore up its national security goals will be undermined if it allows itself to become insecure in the matter of food. Gene Campaign appeals to the Prime Minister to intervene in this potentially disastrous development and ensure that the Indo- US agriculture agreement does not pose a threat to the nation's food security and the livelihoods of farmers.