What will be the fate of Indian Agriculture, Farmers and Consumers if Bt brinjal and other GM crops are introduced?

[PRASHANT]

No Description

[PRASHANT]

The moratorium against the release of the GM eggplant followed harsh criticism by environmentalists and farmers who demanded rigorous testing and labeling standards before Bt brinjal was cultivated.
"Stringent monitoring measures should be immediately put in place to ensure that no releases of GM crops happens," said Rajesh Krishnan, a manager for sustainable agriculture at Greenpeace India.
India's Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) opened the way for the commercial cultivation of Bt brinjal last October, seven years after approving Bt cotton, which is now grown on more than 80 percent of total cotton area.
Thanks to genetically modified cotton, India has become the world's second largest cotton producer and exporter after China, with about 5 million farmers growing Bt cotton.
"Our experience with Bt cotton has showed the technology has benefited the farmer, the consumer and the states' economies," said Bhagirath Choudhary, head of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) in Delhi.
"We have a solid case in Bt cotton, with higher yields, double the output and less use of insecticide. But the technology is so sophisticated, the general public is ignorant about it." India is among the top biotech crop growing countries, trailing only Argentina, Brazil and the United States.
India is the world's second largest producer of eggplant after China and the vegetable is also used in traditional medicine to treat diabetes and hypertension.
About 1.4 million farmers grow eggplant, which is very susceptible to pest attacks. Farmers tend to spray the crop with pesticides 30-50 times during a crop cycle.
"The brinjal we eat now is more harmful because of the pesticide residue," said Raju Shetty, a farmer leader in western Maharashtra state and a member of parliament.
He supported Bt brinjal because he said "it will cut the cost of pesticide and boost yields.
That's what farmers are seeking."
Even though the GM seeds for the vegetable would likely cost three times the price and farmers would need to purchase seeds for every sowing rather than reusing crop seeds, proponents say the extra expenses would be compensated by lower pesticide costs and less devastating crop loses.
Expanding India's food supply is crucial in a country of one billion people, with predictions the population might reach 1.4 billion by 2025.
The United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization has said food production will need to double by mid-century to meet demand from a growing world population, prompting calls for a second Green Revolution. But Greenpeace maintains GM crops are a costly distraction from tackling hunger through fighting poverty and helping small holders in developing countries sell their products.
A combination of changing diets, a growing population, demand for farmland for industrialization and high energy prices have stoked food prices globally, including in India, where the food price index rose 17.56 percent in the 12 months to January 23.
India is also battling with lower crop yields and more pests and plant disease because of higher temperatures, raising concerns that India's farm output could lag demand and the world's second most populous country will become a large food importer unless crop yields jump.Some economists and scientists in India favor a raft of policy initiatives, including genetic engineering, to improve yields and increase resistance to pests, disease and drought.

Aside from health and safety concerns, critics worry that the widespread use of GM crops will put India's food supply largely in the hands of a few giant corporations that make the seeds.
There is also the possibility of genetic contamination if the Bt genes cross pollinate with other varieties.
A recent report by U.S. health and environment protection groups said that rather than reduce the use of pesticides, genetically engineered crops had actually prompted increased use of these chemicals, caused an epidemic of herbicide-resistant weeds and resulted in more chemical residues in foods.

[Varadharajan]

You know what really is the problem! You got one side of the people telling Ban BT and giving really good arguments to support it! on another side people who want it cultivated and giving good reasons to accept it! Who the hell are people gonna trust and who to stand for!

[GOPI KANTA GHOSH]

Let us live with nature...no Bt. ...no Chemical...let us be healthy...

[DR. KAWALJEET SINGH]

I belive the one qustion which needs to be debated and publicised is - what will be the effect of consuming gentically mdified productds as daily diet. There is a set of people, who think that the BT Brinjal has the potential to play with the human system, and the worse porponents even talk about effect on the food chan - in the long run. I mean, you nenve ate any cotton did you? So if there is an improvement in yield et al, so much the better. (not that you will get cheaper clothes). BUt in comes a "subzi" which is partaken by many as a sesonal delicacy. Now surely, the altered DNA or whatever of the Brinjal will enter the human system Will that constitute a potential harm /threat? Those are the questions that have to be answered in public.