India gives environmental clearance for genetically modified mustard

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A government commission has approved an application for environmental clearance for domestically developed genetically modified (GM) mustard seeds, experts said.

The Genetic Engineering Assessment Commission (GEAC), a division of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, has approved GM mustard seed, said India’s top scientist and agricultural expert.

Three government sources, who requested anonymity in line with official rules, also confirmed the permission.

Laboratory-modified mustard seeds were developed by Deepak Pental, a scientist and former vice-chancellor of the University of Delhi, and his team. Pental and his associates have been working with GM mustard for over a decade. I made it.

“You could call it a breakthrough development,” Pental told Reuters on Wednesday.

He said commercial use of GM mustard seeds would take several years.

India is the world’s largest importer of edible oils. The country spends tens of billions of dollars annually on edible oil imports, meeting over 70% of its vegetable oil demand through imports from Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, Argentina, Russia and Ukraine.

“GEAC’s decision recognizes the potential of biotechnology to address India’s growing edible oil import problem,” said Bhagirath, director of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre, a non-profit scientific organization. Choudhary said.

Many scientists and agricultural experts advocate a faster elimination of GM crops in India, where farms are shrinking due to rapid urbanization and erratic weather patterns that threaten the production of staples such as rice and wheat. I am looking for

But conservative politicians and advocacy groups believe GM crops can compromise food safety and biodiversity, and pose a health hazard, so lab-modified I am against crops.

India first allowed GM cultivation of genetically modified cotton in 2002. New Delhi does not approve transgenic crops other than GM cotton.

GM cotton has helped to quadruple production and transform India into the world’s number one cotton producer and second largest exporter of textiles.

Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj, New Delhi Editing by Matthew Lewis

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