Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), which functions in the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, might approve the commercial cultivation of modified mustard. 

• GM mustard, also called DMH-11.
• A group of activists have also written to the ministry, objecting to the potential approval of “unsafe, unneeded and unwanted genetically modified organisms.
• This would be the first time since 2002 for such approval to grow GM mustard, a genetically modified hybrid variety of the mustard species, for consumption by the masses.
• The green signal for GM mustard was given by the central government in May 2017 after trials in Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI).

Experts are fearful

• The move that could pose a threat to crop diversity, food security and increase tolerance for use of pesticides.
• The entire biosafety assessment of GM mustard has been unscientific and no guidelines have been followed.
• GM mustard is also a herbicide tolerant crop, which can become hazardous for the environment. 
• Genetically modified seeds will also threaten crop biodiversity.
• Indigenous crop varieties may get threatened, which are crucial to fight climate change.
• Genetic modifications can have irreversible damage to the environment.

The modification technology is comparatively new and we do not know how it will reflect in the long term. It may open gates for unwanted or unknown diseases and how it will manifest in an open field is not assessed or analysed. Even scientists cannot predict this without its execution. In such a situation, agriculture will go beyond the control of farmers and scientists. Therefore, India must prepare to pick up its battles thoughtfully.