No decision yet on field trials of GM crops: Govt
31 July 2014 5:37 AM IST
Javadekar said that the government respects ‘science’ and maintained that although a recommendation from the biotech regulator had come, his ministry is yet to take any decision. ‘We always respect science. A recommendation has come from an expert panel. The ministry takes decisions through a process. The decision on it has not been taken presently. This is the reality.
When any decision is taken, we will tell you,’ he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting.
Representatives of Swadeshi Jagran Manch and Bhartiya Kissan Sangh had met Javadekar yesterday and sought a ban on field trials of GM crops of certain varieties of rice, brinjal and cotton among others.
They had claimed that the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee’s (GEAC) recent clearance for field trials of GM crops has been ‘put on hold’ and had also apprised the minister of their concerns about the issue.
The GEAC had earlier this month cleared 15 proposals for confined field trials for rice, brinjal, chickpea, mustard and cotton.
The delegation had reminded the minister that Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture in its report on GM food crops - prospects and impacts, tabled in Parliament on 9 August, 2013 has clearly recommended the ‘stopping of all field trials under any garb’.
The Manch and Sangh members told the Minister that it is ‘not advisable’ to allow GM crops without proper scientific evaluation about their probable long-term impact on human health and soil.
When any decision is taken, we will tell you,’ he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting.
Representatives of Swadeshi Jagran Manch and Bhartiya Kissan Sangh had met Javadekar yesterday and sought a ban on field trials of GM crops of certain varieties of rice, brinjal and cotton among others.
They had claimed that the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee’s (GEAC) recent clearance for field trials of GM crops has been ‘put on hold’ and had also apprised the minister of their concerns about the issue.
The GEAC had earlier this month cleared 15 proposals for confined field trials for rice, brinjal, chickpea, mustard and cotton.
The delegation had reminded the minister that Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture in its report on GM food crops - prospects and impacts, tabled in Parliament on 9 August, 2013 has clearly recommended the ‘stopping of all field trials under any garb’.
The Manch and Sangh members told the Minister that it is ‘not advisable’ to allow GM crops without proper scientific evaluation about their probable long-term impact on human health and soil.
Next Story
