Growing in more than 70 countries covering an estimated area of 190 million hectares around the globe, genetically modified crops have become an important component in the global food chain. Genetically modified crops are defined as crops whose genes are artificially engineered.
Regulatory framework around GM crops:
The GEAC (Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee) was formed in 1989 under the Environmental protection act, of 1986 Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change is the sole authority responsible for the supervision and regulation of genetically modified crops in India.
It regulates the commercial cultivation and supervision of field demonstration trials of genetically modified crops and is responsible for the appraisal of activities involving large-scale use of hazardous microorganisms and recombinants in research and industrial production from the environmental aspect.
Experience with BT Cotton:
To tackle the bollworm attack that devastated cotton crops in the past, Bt cotton was introduced, jointly developed by the Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco) and the US seed company Monsanto.
In 2002, the GEAC approved Bt Cotton for commercial cultivation in 6 states Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.
Since then, Bt cotton has performed extremely well nearly trebling India’s cotton production from 14 million bales in 2000-01 to 40 million bales in 2020-21. Nearly 95% of the Cotton cultivated area is occupied by Bt Cotton.
Despite these stunning results, it must be noted that for a long time Bt cotton was the only transgenic crop approved by the GEAC.
GM Mustard:
Recently, GEAC approved the “environmental release” of GM mustard, Although, in 2017, the GEAC recommended the commercial approval of the HT Mustard crop. However, the Supreme Court stayed its release.
Dhara Mustard Hybrid (DMH-11) is an indigenously developed transgenic mustard developed by the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP) at Delhi University. It is a genetically modified variant of Herbicide Tolerant (HT) mustard.
Isolated from a soil bacterium called Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, the CGMCP scientists have deployed the barnase-barstar GM technology to create a robust and viable hybridization system in mustard.
‘barnase’ codes for a protein that impairs pollen production and makes the plant male-sterile this plant is then crossed with a fertile parental line containing, in turn, the second ‘barstar’ gene that blocks the action of the barnase gene. The resultant F1 progeny is both high-yielding and capable of producing seed/ grain, thanks to the barstar gene in the second fertile line.
This system was used to develop DMH-11 by crossing a popular Indian mustard variety ‘Varuna’ (the barnase line) with an East European ‘Early Heera-2’ mutant (barstar). DMH-11 is claimed to have shown an average 28% yield increase over Varuna in contained field trials carried out by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
Although mustard oil unlike palm, soybean, and sunflower oil not imported in great amounts, a rise in its domestic production will help address the trade deficit of USD 18.99 billion for FY 2021-22 on edible oil imports through increased consumption of this variety of oil domestically thus saving forex.
