Thread by @awakenindiamov

From @swadeshimanch

To
Shri Bhupender Yadav ji,
Hon’ble Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change,
Government of India,
Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, Jor Bagh,
New Delhi @PMOIndia @narendramodi

Dear Shri Bhupender Yadav ji,

Namaskar. This is about Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) in the MoEFCC, the Government of India’s regulatory body for gene technologies, which is continuing to function in an irresponsible fashion.
#NoGMMustardPoison
#SaveOurFarmers

In its last meeting on October 18th 2022, they have cleared a GM food crop for cultivation in farmers’ fields in India, that too a herbicide tolerant mustard variety, after running the pretence of a review of GM mustard.

#NoGMMustardPoison
#SaveOurFarmers

This is to bring to your notice that nothing has changed from May 2017 when GEAC’s green signal for this unsafe GM mustard had to be stopped by the Government of India, keeping in mind various concerns and serious issues pertaining to this GM mustard. #NoGMMustardPoison

Not a single additional test has been done, nor a single question been answered scientifically about the safety or efficacy or need of this GM mustard.
#NoGMMustardPoison
#SaveOurFarmers

Not Swadeshi
To begin with, the claim that GM Mustard is Swadeshi and has been developed in India is completely untrue. We would like to bring it to your kind notice that in 2002, Proagro Seed Company (Bayer’s subsidiary), applied for commercial approval for similar construct

that Prof. Pental and his team are now promoting as HT Mustard DMH 11. Bayer’s application at that point of time was turned down because the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said that their field trials did not give evidence of superior yield.

As is well known the hybridisation of GM Mustard is achieved by means of the two genes barnase and barstar, derived from a soil bacterium called Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. The bar-barstar-barnase gene is patented technology of Bayer Crop Science. Bayer is not a swadeshi Company

How can a product patented in their name is termed as Swadeshi. The fact that Bayer owns the patent of the genes used in Prof. Pental’s Mustard has been deliberately concealed from the people of India.

Wrong Claim of higher Yield
Another aspect that we would like to highlight is the unsubstantiated and wrongly projected claim that GM mustard will increase domestic production and reduce our import dependence.

The GMO mustard has no yield advantage compared to Indigenous hybrids. Data from Rapeseed Mustard Research (DRMR), Bharatpur clearly show that the claim of Prof. Deepak Pantel that his GM mustard would increase yield by 26 percent is deceptive and misleading as

there are several existing hybrid varieties that outperform the transgenic variety DMH-11. In fact for reasons best known to the developer, the existence of better performing non-GM hybrids from his own stable has been concealed and he has chosen to falsify the data by

comparing the yield performance of GM mustard with some of very old varieties having lesser yield. Fact of the matter is that existing non-GM verities of mustard give at least 25 percent more yield than what in claimed Prof. Pental's GM mustard.

Wrong claim of expected savings in foreign exchange requirements
We would also like to bring to your notice that the condition of royalty payment by the developer to the Bayer has also been kept a secret.

Not only that GMO Mustard is based on Bayer’s patented Barnase-barstar-barnase gene system for which royalty shall be paid, it is said to promote usage of Glufosinate, an herbicide from which Bayer will benefit the most through its existing brands.

Therefore it is evident beyond doubt that the nation would be seriously dependent upon MNC for usage of patents and import of herbicides causing greater outflow of valuable Foreign exchange from the country.

It needs to be remembered that GM mustard has never been tested as a herbicide tolerant crop at all, while even the development of this glufosinate-tolerant crop was in violation of India’s pesticides regulations @swadeshimanch @PMOIndia @narendramodi @MoHFW_INDIA @drvandanashiva