In placing a moratorium on the release of Bt brinjal till independent scientific studies establish its safety, the Union Environment Ministry has quite rightly addressed both scientific concerns and public opinion. After the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee cleared Bt brinjal in October 2009, the country witnessed widespread protests, some of them by activists who were irrationally opposed to the very concept of Bt or genetic modification. The fears and apprehensions among certain sections, however, gathered greater force in the absence of clear consensus among the scientific community in favour of allowing the genetically modified vegetable to be introduced. In the end, the moratorium was the right way out of a situation that had as much to do with politics as with science. As Union Minister of State for Environment Jairam Ramesh put it, there was no overriding urgency or food security argument to warrant pushing through Bt brinjal in the face of public opposition. With questions raised about the testing procedures, and attention drawn to the lack of long-term toxicity tests and the absence of data from sources independent of the marketing company, there was much to lose and little to gain from forcing Bt brinjal on Indian consumers. Also, opposition from 10 State governments, including those of the major brinjal-producing States, curtailed the options before the Environment Ministry.
However, the moratorium should be used, not to slow down research on Bt products, which hold long-term cost and supply benefits, but to put in place a system of credible and transparent testing that will win public confidence. Setting up of an independent biotechnology regulatory authority could be one of the first steps. In the case of Bt cotton, the benefits to farmers are proven with reduced input costs and higher yields. True, when it comes to food, the concerns are of an altogether different magnitude. Brinjal is a widely used vegetable that is consumed directly and not in a processed form. The problem is rendered more acute because the practical and cost-related difficulties in labelling GM foods take choice out of the hands of the consumers. But while the government will have to reassure the people and address concerns over the long-term effects on health and the impact on environment of Bt brinjal, there is no place for an absolutist stand against GM foods. To advocate a blanket ban on genetic modification is anti-science and is fraught with grave dangers. More science and better science is the answer to the questions raised by genetic modification, and not unreasoning anti-change activism based on irrational fears.
