Fwd: Press Release: Bt Brinjal under "remendous pressure" for release.

Bt Brinjal:  Under "tremendous pressure" for final approval
Bhubaneswar: The Bt Brinjal has been approved by the GEAC based upon
an "Expert Committee Report - 2" (EC-2). At least one official who
prepared the report was the one who helped GEAC interpret the report
and approve it. There was "tremendous pressure" to approve the Bt Crop
as the Chairman of the EC-2 Prof R Arjula Reddy confidentially
conveyed to Dr Pushpa Bhargava Founder and ex-Director of Centre for
Cellular and Molecular Biology and Supreme Court nominee to the GEAC.
Dr G V Ramanjaneyulu, Director of Centre for Sustainable Agriculture,
who has proven that pests in cotton can be tackled without life
threatening pesticides, says the report is rigged and has appealed for
a review.
On the performance part too Central Institute of Cotton Research,
Nagpur reveal that soil becomes deficient of micronutrients in the
third year of Bt Cotton cultivation. Agriculture scientists say the
disease 'lalya' that is affecting the crop in the state points to a
lack of micronutrients and moisture content in soils, which are fast
degrading. This year's scanty rainfall exposed the soil's
deteriorating health. Bad soil health, says a senior soil scientist
from the Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR) at Nagpur, mires
plant growth and leads to low yields.
A recent study by the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF)
found, as a sample, the soils in Wardha district heavily deficient in
18 micronutrients that breathe life in plants and dictate the yields.
Bt Cotton also needs irrigation facilities.
It is very clear that only a rigged report can salvage the situation
and the seed manufacturers are exactly doing just that.
In Orissa an RTI reply from OUAT indicates that the IPM (Integrated
Pest Management) and NPM  (Non pesticidal pest management) has done
better than all the other measures in trying to control the fruit and
stem borer. Should we aim at safe methods like NPM and IPM or choose
the toxic Bt varieties in cotton and brinjal?
This information availed from OUAT shows that the damage in yield of
Brinjal can be reduced through IPM And NPM. In fact fruit yield could
be enhanced to 264.6 q/ha through NPM, i.e. by application of neem oil
cake at land preparation and spraying multineem, installation of
leucin lure, plucking of damaged shoots.
The Chairman of the expert committee, admitted in an interview to CNN
IBN that, "Genetically Engineered food products will not be equal to
the non-genetically engineered food products. That's for sure. Now,
how much damage, we do not know at this stage"!
If the approval process is so lax and so manipulative how can we be
sure that all bio-safety regulations will be in place when the Bt
Brinjal gets the final nod? We cannot be too sure as farmers have not
planted refugea in case of Bt Cotton. Particularly in Odisha, farmers
simply threw the packets of refugea not knowing what to do with them.
 Scientists are very concerned that India is going forward with Bt
crops despite not having well equipped laboratories to fall back upon
in times of crisis. The experiment on rats was done by Mahyco for
ninety days whereas scientists insists it should be 10 years to know
how the generation wise effects.
With the mask falling off and the scary side of genetic modification
coming to the fore only vindicates the stance of critics that the
technology is dangerous. We also know now why countries are refusing
to push the farmers in greater peril. India and its population should
know the extent of damage that GM foods can bring in its wake before
coming to a decision.
On the other side a political game is played by Sri Jairam Ramesh,
Minister of Environment & Forests who has put the bill on hold for
three months as he wants to discuss with all stakeholders. But he too
seems to be under "tremendous pressure" to fast track the approval.
Our food security and safety already has been undermined. But this
time it is not ignorance but intimated and proven unpredictable
technology like GE food is being forced into our plates.
In Orissa farmers and people from all walks of life have urged both
the state government and the Centre to scrap the EC-2 report as
farmers suicides are increasingly happening all over the state. The Bt
Cotton farmers are asking for compensation and are threatening to
commit suicides.
For Living Farms.
Debjeet Sarangi, Jagannath Chatterjee

Western or allopathic medicine is always saying they have to have
proof, double-blind studies, and yet, has your pediatrician ever shown
you proof that vaccinations work? - Pat Mckay
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