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If GE crops and foods are not healthier and
cheaper, why are they being produced?
For the corporations, GE crops are like
any other commodity. Since they have invested money in it, for them it is a
business from which they have to make profits. The interest of corporations is
not in securing the livelihoods of the farming community or national food
security or national food sovereignty. Therefore, their emphasis is not on the
quality of the food, its affordability or whether it is accessible to the poor.
Since it is a business for them, corporations continue to produce GE crops and
foods as a commodity and seek markets for them. We must be vigilant and make
sure that only such crops and foods enter our markets that are good for our
people.
If there are fish genes in tomato and pig genes
in rice, what about vegetarians?
There are major ethical and social
questions regarding genetically engineered foods precisely because they have
crossed natural boundaries. Many people have strong ethical, cultural or
religious objections to them. For example, vegetarians object to eating food
that contains animal or even worse human genes. In fact, studies in Europe and
UK have shown that consumers are disgusted at the thought of food containing
human genes like the human growth hormone genes since they associate it with
cannibalism. Religious groups like Jews and Muslims have objection to foods that
contain genes from animals that are forbidden in their religion, for example
pigs. The cultural context of food is intensely personal. Many have objection
for eating modified unnatural food. Government policy must show cultural and
religious sensitivity.
India is said to be the birthplace of rice, is
it advisable to grow GE rice here, its centre of origin and diversity?
It would be a very unwise risk to
cultivate GE rice in its centre of origin that is in the northeast and eastern
parts of India. The Jeypore tract in Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are home
to several thousand varieties of rice and wild species related to it. The
maximum biodiversity of rice and its wild relatives are found in this area. The
largest gene pool of any crop is found in its centre of origin. There is
evidence to show that genes do transfer from GE rice to other rice and to
related species. Experiments have found that the Herbicide Tolerant gene can
move to native varieties and create new, difficult to control weeds. A study
conducted in Asia and America under field conditions on the transgene escape of
the Herbicide Tolerant gene was high enough to cause concern. Many countries
that are the centres of origin of major food plants, like Mexico for corn, China
for soybean and Peru for potatoes, have banned the cultivation of GE versions of
these crops. Mexico has not only prohibited cultivation of GE corn but has also
banned research on GE corn. Hence, India must similarly adopt the precautionary
principle and not allow GE rice to be cultivated here.
We had a Green Revolution that brought High
Yielding Varieties. Is the Gene Revolution with its Genetically Engineered Crops
the same?
No, it is not the same. The Gene
Revolution is a privately owned technology. Six mega corporations control
practically the entire research and output in the field of transgenic crops.
Processes and products including research methodologies are shackled in patents.
The GE seed belongs to the company, which strictly controls its movement. The
Green Revolution was almost the exact opposite. It was a publicly owned
technology, belonging to the people. The research was conducted with public
money to fulfil the need for increasing food production. The Green Revolution
created public goods, which everybody had access to. There were no Intellectual
Property Rights in the Green Revolution, no patents vested in multinational
companies, no proprietary technologies or products. Once the seed reached the
farmers, it was theirs; they bought and sold it as they wanted to.
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