Engineered genes: roll over Darwin

I feel that this whole debate over GM or no GM is a lot in the air. There are no logical reasons to oppose GMOs or their introduction into India. First, the technological aspect: There is absolutely no reason to suppose that GM crops, when introduced on Indian soil, will result in uncontrollable cross-pollination with other indigenous species or with the same plants' non-GM variety. The second argument, that India's food security will be lost to corporates is equally unfounded. Farmers are free to save, reuse, distribute or otherwise channelise their seeds and farm produce. The area of concern that I can foresee is that of patents and Intellectual Property Rights relating to GM crop varieties. India's own research and development in the area cannot match up to the standards in Europe or America. Building up this development mid research is not as easy as it sounds. Till 2005, India's position is clear as far as patents and copyrights are concerned, but after that, India will constantly be stepping on the toes of other, countries as, far as the genes and their promoters are concerned. We do not want a blanket kind of ban on research, development and use of Genetically Engineered food crops. Specially since India has a problem with food security, it only makes sense to promote high-yielding and hardier crop varieties. The most common argument levelled against the developers or users and promoters of GMOs is that these products are "not natural". It would be prudent to reconsider what we consider natural in the first place. Take the rice growing in the fields, for example ? this is not the wild variety that grows naturally in India, yet we depend on it as our staple. Cross-breeding is another factor under severe attack, but that too, is not only integral to nature, but has been a pail of animal rearing And cropping throughout history! In fact, if going back to nature is the aim, then there are no excuses to continue with the lifestyles that we have in villages or in cities. Nature itself brings about more changes in genetic codes than human beings have done. Unless the developments are un-ethical?such as the terminator gene which makes no sense for Indian conditions, I am all for it! How can a disease resistant, high yielding, hardy, insect resistant and weed resistant crop possibly be a bad thing. Considering India's economic situation, the introduction of crops high in Vitamin A and Iron cannot be anything but beneficial. Technology has always been used and will be. What India needs is not a blanket ban, but better standards of testing and more resource allocation towards, indigenous GM research. Careful testing and stringent control of pollination are the key to ensuring that no unwanted changes occur in indigenous strains. In this respect, the only way to ensure that a certain crop suits the requirements of any geographical region is by studying crop performance on a case by case basis. The technology behind Genetic Engineering has been developed over the years, and is not dangerous as is supposed by many people. There is no possibility that the modified gene plants will start to pollinate uncontrollably and forcibly modify the food or land use patterns in our country. Geneticists only alter a single gene or two to make the plant better, not worse. India does not need a blanket ban, but a careful analysis of our needs. For instance, introducing herbicides in every crop does not make sense for us. In the same way, introducing Brazil Nut genes into the soya been plant's genes makes very little sense because of the allergic reactions Brazil Nut produces in many people. Just labeling the contents of a package containing a, Bio-engineered product is not enough there should be emphasis on building consumer awareness as well. For example. it is not possible to differentiate between genetically modified oils and non-engineered oils. The testing is currently possible and people do conduct the tests, but better systems need to lit- put into place to make the testing accessible. If health, environment impact and regulatory sties are considered beforehand, there is no reason also to fear that Indian farmers will lose control over their crops, but risk assessment is different from creating a fear psychosis among people. We do a sui generis system in place as far a,, plant breeders rights are concerned, and no other international model such as the UPOV need be followed for the moment. The farmer also, one must, remember will choose to plant the crop that gives him best returns, you or I cannot stop him from doing that. The debate over foreign control over our markets has also raged for many, many years now. Why pick up the issue? We will do better to develop indigenous technology and open our markets. Then here may be an increased exchange of expertise, an awareness of demands from the Indian market and maybe, our farmers will get access to better technology in the long run. It won't do to complain against the rise of market forces.