A genetically modified (GM) brinjal is being illegally grown in the Fatehabad district of Haryana, as per the reports of anti-GM activists. Earlier they demanded that the Central and the State regulatory agencies should immediately take action to stop the cultivation.
They should investigate the spread of the illegal variety and destroy all such crops, seeds and saplings as due to which dangerous biohazards are entering the food chain.
Punitive action should be taken against the seed suppliers and the company which developed the GM variety, according to the activists warning against a repeat of earlier episodes of illegal spread of GM cotton and soyabean.
Brinjal has been genetically modified. It has been done by inserting a protein gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis which gives protection against certain pests. The result of which is Bt brinjal. It was developed in India by Maharashtra-based seed company Mahyco.
It is to be noted that brinjal was on the verge of becoming India’s first GM food crop, when the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) cleared it for commercialisation in 2009.
“This is a biohazard contamination, and must be treated seriously,” Rajinder Chaudhary said, an activist with the Kudarti Kheti Abhiyan in Haryana.
