By Tricitynews
Chandigarh 24th April:- Farm and consumer activists of Haryana and Punjab held a Press
Conference here today, to present their findings with regard to illegal Bt
brinjal cultivation in the state of Haryana. Acting on a tip-off received about
suspected illegal Bt brinjal cultivation, sample was collected from the
impugned farm, and a lateral flow strip test was conducted for detection of Bt
Cry1AC protein. The test showed a positive result of the
suspected sample being transgenic. While a sample has been sent to a private
testing laboratory for further confirmation, a group of representatives of
farmers’ and consumers’ organisations as well as scientists from the region
submitted another sample to Director-General of Agriculture Ajit Balaji Joshi
and Director General of Horticulture Arjun Saini, Government of Haryana as well
as the Government of India’s apex regulatory body, Genetic
Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), demanding further investigations and
action.
Dr Rajinder Chaudhary, a retired professor of economics and
sustainable farming activist, said that there is a good reason why Government
of India had not approved Bt brinjal for commercial cultivation in the country
in 2010. All the environmental and health concerns with regard to this
transgenic food crop remain and there is a grave danger of illegal Bt brinjal
cultivation proliferating if Central and State governments do not act on our
complaint immediately. Our investigations show that the seedling supply of this
suspected Bt brinjal has happened last year itself and it is not clear how far
is the extent of illegal cultivation of this unapproved crop. This is a very
important and urgent matter of concern, and we demand immediate and deterrent
action to be initiated by the concerned authorities.
It may be recalled that in
February 2010, after nationwide consultations and extensive public debate
lasting a couple of months, Government of India had placed an infinite
moratorium on commercial release of Bt brinjal “till such time independent scientific
studies establish, to the satisfaction of both the public and professionals the
safety of the product from the point of view of its long-term impact on human
health and environment, including the rich genetic wealth existing in brinjal in
our country”. The moratorium is still underway and
has not been lifted since no such evidence of safety has been produced by the
crop developers so far. As such, cultivation of Bt brinjal that is taking place is not
only illegal, it also puts human health and genetic purity of thousands of
brinjal varieties that evolved over millenia at great irreversible danger.
While handing over the suspected
sample to the Arjun Saini, Director-General,
Horticulture, Government of Haryana, delegation demanded that the state
government immediately investigate this case and take legal action against the
source of supply of these seeds. In addition to finding out the full extent of
cultivation and action against entire seed/seedling supply network of illegal
Bt brinjal, to control further damage, it also demand the destruction of all Bt
brinjal plots. However, delegation unequivocally demanded that “no penal action
should be taken against farmers who have been duped into cultivating these
illegal seeds. Rather, farmers must be fully compensated for destruction of
their standing crop”, said Umendra Dutt of Kheti Virasat Mission.
Gurnam Singh, President, BKU, Haryana, said that we are
expecting serious deterrent action, immediate destruction of all Bt brinjal
fields, drying up of the supply chain decisively etc. from the authorities
concerned. If we don't see such action, you will see the kind of protests that
the country witnessed in January 2010 when Bt brinjal was being debated. We
don't want it, and we will not allow it.
Memorandum submitted has been endorsed
by various organisations of farmers and consumers besides scientists.
Leaders/Organisations endorsing this demand include Inderjeet Singh, Vice-President, All
India Kisan Sabha, Haryana; Badrinarayan Chowdhary, Rashtriya
Mahamantri, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh; Gurnam Singh, President BKU Haryana; Abhimanyu Kohar, National
Spokesperson, Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh; Sukhdev Bhopal, Khetibari Kisan Vikas
Front, Punjab; Jagmohan Singh, General Secretary, BKU Ekta Dakunda,
Punjab; Dr APS Mann, Retd Dean PAU, Ludhiana; BS Bhayan, Dr Surender Dalal Keet
Saksharta Mission, Haryana; Reeta Kohli, Sr Advocate, Alliance for Safe Food
Punjab, Chandigarh; Dr Mahaveer Narwal, Retd Professor, CCS HAU, Haryana;
Umendra Dutt, Kheti Virasat Mission, Punjab and Dr Rajinder Chaudhary for
Kudarti Kheti Abhiyan, Haryana.
Rahul Sharma, an organic farmer and a safe food activist, said
that the departments are supposed to be alert and watch out for illegal
activity. This is clearly a failure of the government if such illegal
cultivation is happening. We would like all frontline officials to be alert and
weed out the problem before it spreads.
Addressing the press conference, Dr
APS Mann, Retd Dean PAU, Ludhiana hoped that both state government and union government will not
allow history of Bt cotton to repeat itself, wherein Bt cotton was introduced
and cultivated illegally first and then government ended up giving post-facto
approval. Unlike cotton, brinjal is a part of daily diet of humans and
governments cannot allow multinationals to play with health of masses. The myth
and hype around Bt cotton got busted in the past 15 years of its cultivation in
India, showing that pesticide use does not reduce and pest resistance as well
as newer pests emerge.
