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VIEWPOINT: KAUTILYA
Plant Biotech Takes A Pause
Plans to sell new transgenic cotton varieties to
Indian farmers are put on hold
By Jairam Ramesh
In
an allusion to the potential of biotechnology (BT) to transform Indian
agriculture, it was the veteran politician Mohan Dharia who remarked that
while it reflected India Today, BT represented Bharat Tomorrow. But it
is not going to be smooth sailing. The Central Government has just postponed,
for at least another year, the commercial use of BT cotton, a genetically
engineered variety that increases yields and pest-tolerance significantly.
BT stands for the micro-organism Bacillus thuringiensis.
The bacterium was isolated by a German scientist from a dead moth in the
Thuringia region of Germany, hence the name. BT cotton is cotton into
which a gene obtained from this soil-based bacterium has been introduced.
This gives the cotton plant the capacity to produce its own protein which
is toxic to specific pests like bollworms. Some 70 per cent of all chemical
pesticides used in India is just on cotton. Over one-third of this is
in Andhra Pradesh alone. Another two-fifth is accounted for by Karnataka,
Gujarat and Punjab. Not coincidentally, the maximum number of farmer suicides
have been that of cotton cultivators in Andhra and Karnataka.
 India
has the maximum area under cotton in the world followed by the US and
China. However, our productivity is the lowest. Over half the cotton area
in the US is under transgenics, that is plants into which genes from unrelated
species have been introduced to give them desirable characteristics. China
too has moved forward on its own. In India, field experiments with BT
cotton first started in 1996-97 and were continued in 1997-98 and 1998-99.
Large-scale research field trials and seed production took place in 2000-01.
The Jalna-based Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (MAHYCO) is responsible
for the field trials in India. MAHYCO is a research-driven company led
by Dr B.R. Barwale, the 1998 recipient of the World Food Prize, considered
the Nobel Prize in agriculture. The US multinational Monsanto has a 26
per cent stake in MAHYCO and it is Monsanto's BT gene that has been introduced
into MAHYCO's hybrid cotton and is under test.
Encouraged by the preliminary results of the
experiments and the field trials on about 12 hectares, the Department
of Biotechnology moved the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC)under
the Ministry of Environment and Forests for permission to have BT cotton
seeds sold commercially to farmers. The committee has denied this request
and now wants further large-scale field trials on another 100 hectares
under the supervision of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research before
taking a final decision. Proponents of BT cotton feel that the influential
pesticide manufacturers lobby is at work. Some progressive farmers' organisations
are upset while NGOs have welcomed the GEAC's move.
Undoubtedly, Monsanto's involvement has mobilised
opposition to BT cotton. It has been dubbed the Frankenstein of Foods
out to destroy the world through genetic manipulation. But Monsanto apart,
five specific fears have been raised about BT cotton. First, we could
develop immunity to specific antibiotics like streptomycin. Second, the
bollworms themselves could soon develop immunity to the toxin. Third,
animals fed with BT cotton seed could develop toxicity and serious allergies
and soil micro-organisms could be adversely affected. Fourth, the BT cotton
pollen might flow beyond a safe zone and begin to impact on other crops.
Fifth, the BT cotton seed might contain the "terminator gene"
which means that farmers will have to buy seeds year after year from the
market.
The Department of Biotechnology believes that
these fears are unfounded and that MAHYCO's experiments and trials yield
robust data to substantiate this position. Many scientists also agree
but few others have raised doubts-The Hindu has been carrying a debate
on this.
The only way to inspire confidence is to make
all results of the trials under Indian conditions public and have them
subjected to scientific peer review. Even though highly complex scientific
issues are involved, the debate has to be conducted in easy-to-understand
language without clouding public concerns in some technical mumbo-jumbo.
A bit of humility on all sides-on the part of both gung-go scientists
and self-righteous and scare-mongering NGOs-will also help. India desperately
needs to harness the undoubted potential of transgenic plants.
At the same time, risks have to be managed through
a transparent and effective regulatory regime. We could also profit from
innovative public-private partnerships and a greater role for public-sector
research, of the type that triggered the earlier Green Revolution. And
speaking of the Green Revolution, it was the wildly enthusiastic acceptance
by farmers that turned the tide. It is this that will make or break plant
biotech.
(The author is with the Congress party. These
are his personal views.)
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