GM Mustard: A win for science and the farmer

Source: The post is based on the article “GM Mustard: A win for science and the farmer” published in Indian Express on 1^st November 2022.

Syllabus: GS 3 – Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country

Relevance: About the benefits of GM food crops.

News: Recently, the government cleared the GM Mustard Hybrid DMH 11 for commercial cultivation.

Why does the adoption of GM food crops are in the broader national interest?

Scientific innovations and their scaling is the best option to reduce over-exploitation of natural resources (soil, water, biodiversity), increase factor productivity, and helps to achieve sustainable development goals, especially ending poverty and hunger.

Wider adaptability: Genetically modified maize, soybean, cotton, tomato and canola are grown worldwide; the area currently under GM crops is about 200 m ha. Besides India, these have been grown for many years in the US, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Australia, Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and China.

Meet the existing deficit in India’s production: India is currently importing around 13 million tonnes at a cost of Rs 1.17 lakh crore to the exchequer. Of this, 2.0-2.5 mt soybean oil and 1.0-1.5 mt canola oil is already GM.

It is scientifically proven that the consumption of refined oil does not allow any protein to enter the human system. Thus, the consumption of GM oil is completely safe from a health point of view. So permitting GM crops can meet the existing deficit in edible oils (about 55-60 per cent).

What are the major benefits of GM Mustard?

Farmers report that the yields of mustard are low and have stagnated for a long time at around 1,260 kg/ha, much lower than the global average of 2,000 kg/ha. Yields of canola in Canada, China and Australia are almost three times higher than in India since they use GM hybrid technology. The government’s decision to allow the production of GM Mustard can increase the yield and improve oil production.

Note: Australia has recently released herbicide-tolerant GM Indian mustard, using similar technology of DMH11.

What India needs to do to promote GM food crops?

India needs to a) Provide an enabling environment to test the available seed of Hybrid DMH 11 in the current rabi season, b) Encourage public-private partnerships to produce quality seeds to cover more area next year, c) Scientists at ICAR institutes must be encouraged to develop new GM Mustard hybrids on a mission mode, d) Allowing the production of GM Soybean and GM Maize will also be a positive step.

All this will increase both the productivity and profitability of these crops and doubling farmers’ income