{"id":36293,"date":"2018-11-02T11:59:04","date_gmt":"2018-11-02T06:29:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=36293"},"modified":"2018-11-02T11:59:04","modified_gmt":"2018-11-02T06:29:04","slug":"should-we-grow-gm-crops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/should-we-grow-gm-crops\/","title":{"rendered":"Should we grow GM crops?:\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/todays-paper\/tp-opinion\/should-we-grow-gm-crops\/article19227723.ece\"><b>Should we grow GM crops?<\/b><\/a><b>:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Why Not to Grow GM Crops?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><b>Context:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are several criticisms associated with GM crops and its commercial production has been one of the most persisting public policy debates in India.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>GMO and Environmental Contamination<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GMOs are self- regulating organisms and through gene flow it leads to genetic contamination of the environment<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The genetic contamination of wild species and non- GM crops cannot be reversed or remedied.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is argued that the seed stock will get contaminated at the molecular level.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Environmentalists have argued that the toxicity caused by GM crops will remain in perpetuity<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>GMO and Health Impacts<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Effects of GM crops on human health can be unpredictable.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The health impacts of GMO only appear in the long run.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Glyphosate, that is considered as one of the safest herbicide, has been categorized as \u201cprobable carcinogen\u201d by the World Health Organization<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There has been evidence from Argentina of the horrifying birth defects because of Glyphosate used in herbicide-tolerant (HT) soybeans.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>GM Crop Technology: Unsustainable<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The myth that GM crop technology \u201cwill feed the world\u201d is fading rapidly.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At present GMO comprises just two products, Bt (e.g. Bt cotton) and HT crops (HT mustard)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These account for nearly 99% of GMOs planted worldwide. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Based on empirical evidences (including India\u2019s Bt cotton), both the products have been proven unsustainable technologies<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Going Against Evidence: Problem with regulatory institutions in India<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regulatory institutions are neither independent nor rigour<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is serious lack of expertise in risk assessment<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is lack of transparency in the regulatory processes<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In India, all the safety tests for regulatory approvals are conducted by the same party that applies for commercialisation of GM crops.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Genetic Engineering Appraisal <\/span><b><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Committee\u2019s<\/span><b> \u00a0(<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GEAC) refusal to publicly release the safety testing data submitted for regulatory approval of BT Brinjal and GM Mustard, until GM opponents filed a Right to Information petition has further worsen the concern over transparency.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Way Ahead<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India should learn lessons from the history of hazardous technologies, DDT, asbestos, etc. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The traits for disease, saline and drought resistance, yield, etc. are found in nature, not biotech labs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India should maintain its still-rich genetic diversity for the future of its agriculture.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b><i>\u201c<\/i><\/b><b>You cannot insert a gene you took from a bacteria into a seed and call it life. You haven\u2019t created a life, instead you have polluted it\u201d<\/b><b><i>&#8211;<\/i><\/b><b>Vandana Shiva<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>KNOW ABOUT Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC)<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The GEAC is established under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GEAC is the apex body for the approval of activities involving large-scale use of hazardous microorganisms and recombinants<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Functions<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To permit the use of GMOs and products thereof for commercial applications.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To adopt producers for restriction or prohibition, production, sale, import &amp; use of GMOs both for research and applications under Environmental Protect Act (EPA).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To approve for conduct of large scale field trials, evaluation of large scale field trial data and final approval for release of transgenic crop into the environment.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To authorize large scale production and release of GMOs and products thereof into the environment.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To authorize agencies or persons to have powers to take punitive actions under the EPA.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Should we grow GM crops?:\u00a0 Why Not to Grow GM Crops? Context: There are several criticisms associated with GM crops and its commercial production has been one of the most persisting public policy debates in India. GMO and Environmental Contamination GMOs are self- regulating organisms and through gene flow it leads to genetic contamination of&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/should-we-grow-gm-crops\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Should we grow GM crops?:\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-test-1","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704915104},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36293\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}