The Hindu : CPI(M) for debate before approving Bt cotton

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 31, 2002

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CPI(M) for debate before approving Bt cotton

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI MARCH 30. Opposition to the Government's decision to allow commercialisation of Bt cotton has begun with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanding that the approval be withheld till an informed public debate on all the ramifications and proper safeguards to protect Indian agriculture and farmers are put in place.

In a statement, the CPI(M) politburo said the wisdom of using the Bt cotton seed was being questioned by many scientists. The technology was being propagated by the U.S.-based seed multinational, Monsanto. The technology of genetic modification was still too unpredictable to warrant widespread replication, given the irreversible nature of the technology. " Past experience shows that it is still difficult to predict the course of such organisms accurately''.

The party noted that while India had rushed in to allow genetically modified crops, trials of genetically engineered organisms had been banned or restricted in countries of the European Union, Japan, Brazil and many other countries. England, it said, had been harsh in not allowing GM crops and even Monsanto's staff canteen in England was not allowed to use GM foods.

It said that such technologies promoted monoculture by precluding the use of different varieties of crops in the same area and such cropping techniques were especially vulnerable to extensive damage by pests and sudden climatic changes like drought, as was seen in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

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