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Farmers rally against GM mustard

SNS | August 22, 2016 11:14 pm

A Round Table meeting of citizens’ groups including farmer representatives urged upon Odisha government to write to the centre cautioning against approving any GM food crop like GM mustard in India. Participants at the Round Table held here on Sunday appreciated the positive role played by the state government earlier in the case of Bt brinjal, and reminded the state government that it had taken the proactive step of letting the Centre know of its concerns and reservations against such GM food crops in 2009-10.

Given that mustard is an important crop for Odisha, both from a production and consumption point of view, they urged the government to write to the Centre immediately on the issue of GM mustard. They pointed out that unless the state asserts its Constitutional authority over the state’s agriculture, it will not be able to implement its GM-free policy. Given that mustard is widely used in all cuisines across India,they expressed their objection against any moves by the Centre to approve transgenic mustard, that too in the name of yield improvements,as there area many alternatives to GM mustard exist for yield improvements like the non GM hybrids available for farmers in the market, in addition to agronomic innovations like System of Mustard Intensification. Very often the GM crop are herbicide tolerant and lead to increased use of chemicals in farming, noted the participants The experience of farmers in the case of Bt Cotton in states like Punjab, Haryana,Gujarat and Maharashtra should act as a warning to the central government.

Ashok Jena of Navanirman Krushak Sangathan, Seemanchal Nahak, Rushikulya Raitha Mahasangha, Panchanan Dalapathi, Krushak Vikas Manch, Lingaraj Pradhan of,Jai Kisan Andolan, Saroj Mohanty, Paschim Odisha Krushak Sanghatan Samanvay Samiti, Prafulla Samantara of Lok Shakti Abhiyan and others took part in the discussions.

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