Approval
of GM Mustard
India’s biotech regulator, the
Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC),
has approved genetically modified (GM)
mustard for commercial cultivation, paving the way for the country’s first transgenic food crop,
nearly 15 years after its inventor, a public-sector scientist, first worked
on it in his Delhi University lab and fields near the national capital.
The
decision is “great for the country” because GM mustard would bring “better
yields and lower costs for farmers”, said Deepak
Pental, former Delhi University
vice-chancellor and the scientist behind GM mustard, and technically called
Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11).
The partially state-funded project
cost ₹70 crore in all, from lab to field trials.
Activists
opposed to transgenic crops slammed the approval. The Coalition for a GM-free
India called the clearance “shocking”, alleging that the “regulator colluded
with the developer” to push it through.
GEAC’s approval clears the path for commercial seed production of GM mustard and use of the technology to further produce more GM-based mustard hybrid varieties. The commercial clearances were given in an October 18 meeting of GEAC, details of which were uploaded on the body’s website on Wednesday.
GM Mustard
Dhara
Mustard Hybrid (DMH-11) is indigenously developed
transgenic mustard. It is a genetically modified variant of Herbicide
Tolerant (HT) mustard.
It
contains two alien genes (‘barnase’
and ‘barstar’) isolated from a soil bacterium called Bacillus amyloliquefaciens that enable breeding of high-yielding
commercial mustard hybrids.
It
has been developed by the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop
Plants (CGMCP) at Delhi University.
In
2017, the GEAC recommended the commercial approval of the HT Mustard crop.
However, the Supreme Court stayed its release and asked the central government
to seek public opinion.
Significance: India
produces only 8.5-9 million tonnes (mt) of edible oil annually while it imports
14-14.5 mt which entailed a record foreign exchange outgo of USD 18.99 billion
in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022. Further, GM mustard would make India
self-reliant in oil production and help in saving forex.
Mustard
varieties in India have a narrow genetic base. The barnase-barstar system
enables breeding of hybrids from a wider range of mustards, including those
of East European origin such as ‘Heera’ and ‘Donskaja’.
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