The Environment Support Group, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) has called the entire process of the clearance given for Bt brinjal by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) illegal.
: Even as he moved to put Bt brinjal in cold storage, the environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh admitted that he is all for Bt cotton. But if we consider all the good that Bt cotton has wrought, the idea of setting aside India
In placing a moratorium on the release of Bt brinjal till independent scientific studies establish its safety, the Union Environment Ministry has quite rightly addressed both scientific concerns and public opinion.
There are too many loose ends in the Union environment minister's decision to reject the apex Genetic Engineering Approval Committee's clearance after years of testing, to genetically modified (Bt) brinjal. One trusts the months ahead will see a process put in place that ensures such an outcome isn't repeated.
At a press conference here on 9 February, India's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, announced a "moratorium" on commercial release of what would have been India's first genetically modified food crop: varieties of eggplant, called brinjal in India, equipped with a protein from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) that's toxic to insect pests.
Did the arrival of US diplomat Nina Fedoroff, science and technology adviser to secretary of state Hillary Clinton in New Delhi on Monday evening force Union minister of environment Jairam Ramesh prepone his decision to put a moratorium on Bt Brinjal by a day?
Bt brinjal is on indefinite hold because the Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, has said there are many questions still to be answered. But the fact is there are many questions the minister needs to answer.
