Genetically modified brinjal
[3] It was approved for commercialization in India in 2009, but - after an apparent public outcry and rounds of debates in which representatives from Mahyco, the scientific community, and NGO's spoke on the topic - the then Indian Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, facilitated a moratorium on its release until further, unspecified, tests were conducted.
[10] An irregularity[11] was also brought to the notice of the Karnataka Biodiversity Board by Environment Support Group, a charitable trust in Bengaluru, in February 2010.
[22] Several other trials have produced similarly positive results, and a few in areas with high pest pressure achieved multiplication of yield several times without the need for further insecticide inputs.
[25] Scientists from the University of the Philippines Los Baños-Institute of Plant Breeding (UPLB-IPB) are currently developing a version of GM Brinjal.
[29] On 17 April 2024, the Court of Appeals in the Philippines issued a cease-and-desist order on the commercial propagation of two genetically modified crops, golden rice and Bt eggplant, citing a lack of "full scientific certainty" regarding their health and environmental impact.
The decision was in response to a petition filed by groups including Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad Agrikultura (Masipag) and Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
The brinjal is an important food crop for India, and the potential commercialization of a genetically modified variety has drawn support and criticism.
Field trials conducted on research-managed farms carried out by Mahyco and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research suggested a 42% pesticide reduction and a doubling of the yield was possible.
[32][33] A French scientist notable for his anti-GM perspective,[34] Gilles-Eric Seralini, raised concerns about some of the differences between feeding trials using the genetically modified and unmodified brinjal, and criticized some of the testing protocols.
[35] The EC-II responded to the concerns raised by Seralini and other scientists in their report,[7] New Zealand epidemiologist Lou Gallagher also criticised the feeding trials saying that the raw data indicated toxic effects were associated with rats that were fed Bt Brinjal.
[36] Concerns have also been raised about a possible conflict of interest, with some of the scientists appointed to the GEAC being involved in developing their own GM products, that the decision by the EC-II was not unanimous, and about the reliability of safety data originating from Mahcyo run trials.
[37] The imposed moratorium has been criticized by some scientists as not being based on any compelling scientific evidence and potentially setting Indian biotechnology back decades.
[38] Others feel the critical issue is not the safety of the GM technology, but its corporatization[39] and there are claims that India's crop protection industry was a major player in preventing the commercialization of Bt brinjal.
[41] The Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture on 9 August 2012 asked the Government to stop all field trials and sought a ban on GM food crops like Bt brinjal.
