Says protests by western countries unjustified as 80 per cent land in US under GM crops

PUNE: Hitting out at the United States of America (USA) for objecting to India’s use of genetically modified (GM) crops, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Sunday said such a stance was unjustified as majority of the agriculture fields in the USA were under such crops.

“For some time now there have been vociferous protests against the usage of biotechnology (BT) crops like cotton and brinjal. The protests are most vocal from American agencies, despite the fact that their 80 per cent agriculture land is under BT crops. This makes their protests unjustified,” Pawar said.

He was speaking after inaugurating laboratories of Biotechnology and Bio-control at Agriculture College premises, here. “Whenever we come out with modern indigenously developed technology for agriculture, the Western organisations are supporting the protesting NGOs to prevent us from adopting new technology,” he said.

Global environmental activist group Greenpeace has criticised the government regarding the issue of commercial release of Bt Brinjal, demanding more clarity on its stand. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh too expressed his dissent over Pawar’s statement endorsing the cultivation of GM crops.

Pawar said that the anti-BT crop stand was even more unjustified as the farmers, who are the end-users, are actually benefiting from its usage.

“Farmers who are cultivating BT cotton are very happy. They have fetched Rs 3,000 per quintal price for their produce.

If they are happy, who am I to force usage of BT crops. It is up to them to decide whether or not they require genetically modified seeds,” he said.

Recently, the agriculture minister has been facing lot of opposition from NGOs and his cabinet colleague Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh for promoting the use of BT brinjal.

“In October last year, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) which is the government’s biotech regulator approved the commercialisation of the genetically modified crop.

Now the environment ministry has to decide if Bt Brinjal will be allowed for commercial use. It is after their clearance, we will commercially launch it in the market.

I am surprised by the criticisms now,” he said.

The minister also said that the country’s economy could only progress if the issues like giving farmers right price for their produce and food security are dealt with.

PRICE POLICY

- Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who came under severe attack from various quarters over the price rise issue, on Sunday said policy decisions are collectively made by the cabinet including the prime minister.

- “I am not the only person involved in this process. The prime minister and all of us together decide the price policy. There is an experts’ committee to give guidelines to the cabinet which takes the final decision,” he told reporters here.

- He was asked about charges of Congress not backing him on the price rise issue. Earlier, addressing a function here Pawar said prices of sugar had gone up recently because of a spurt in international market rates due to bulk purchases made by big countries like China.

PTI