Effects of GM Crops

There have been many studies conducted in the past and the results show that GM crops have adverse effects on animals and humans. In 1996, the UK launched more than 50 long-term safety studies on GM foods. A team under Arpad Pusztai of the prestigious Rowett Institute tested GM potatoes engineered to produce an insecticide called GNA lectin by feeding them to rats. The feed adversely affected virtually every organ of young rats, including the brain, liver and testicles. There were signs of 'immune system damage'. In another case, rats fed with Monsanto's GM maize exhibited 'significant changes in their blood cells, livers and kidneys.

In Madhya Pradesh, agricultural labourers handling Bt cotton complained of allergic reactions like mild to severe itching. In severe cases, the eyes also become red, swollen, with excessive tears, nasal discharge and sneezing. In Andhra Pradesh, studies by the respected NGO, Deccan Development Society, found that Bt cotton cultivators continued to use pesticides on a large scale, which belies the claim that Bt cotton would reduce pesticide use.

In 2003, nearly 2,500 sheep died after grazing in Bt cotton fields. DDS instituted another sheep study. Two groups were fed two varieties of Bt cotton and the third non-Bt cotton. Sheep from the first two died within six weeks. The non-Bt cotton-fed sheep remained healthy.

There has also been adverse effects which have been reported from the Philippines, the US and Germany from GM maize, cotton and soybeans including allergies in humans and permanent damage in pigs, cows and chickens. In the US, a GM food supplement called L-Tryptophan killed about 100 people and produced swelling, coughs, rashes, pneumonia, mouth ulcers, nausea, muscle spasms, difficulty in concentration and paralysis among 1,000 people.

GM crops are likely to increase environmental and food-chain toxins. These are unaffordable risks. Considering this evidence, GM foods certainly cannot be certified as safe. Yet, they are being promoted for profit by corporations which control intellectual property rights to GM seeds and can manipulate their sales.

India's experience with Bt cotton should be an eye-opener. Bt cotton was allowed to be grown without proper safety evaluation. Farmers first took to Bt cotton because of higher yields and reduced expenditure on pesticides. But these gains soon turned illusory. As their losses mounted, farmers withdrew from Bt cultivation.The losses from Bt cotton are one of the main causes for the 150,000 farmers's suicides in India since 1997 - a number unprecedented in world history.

The future of Indian agriculture and food security doesn't lie in GM foods. They are unsafe, deliver no real benefits, and are bad for the environment and human health. Our real future lies in low-intensity, low-energy, low water-use agriculture based on and drought-resistant crops like millets (jowar, bajra, maize, ragi) and pulses. That is where our research priorities must be directed & thus opening the door to Bt brinjal is a step towards disaster.