Environmental release of GM Mustard gets approval; All You Need to Know

The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has approved the "environmental release" of the transgenic mustard (DMH-11) for seed production and testing. The process will take around 2 years before the farmers start doing commercial cultivation. This approval will make the GM mustard the second approved transgenic crop after the GM mustard Bt cotton, which was the first transgenic crop that was commercially cultivated by farmers. Many farm groups oppose the move, but it still comes. since the approval of seed production "prior to commercial release" is in place. The gene developers have to follow many processes while adhering to the stipulated 16 conditions under the supervision of ICAR before launching the DMH-11 seeds for farmers to use.

KEEN AS MUSTARD

• The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has approved the "environmental release" of GM mustard on the basis of recommendations of a panel constituted by it.
• While giving the approval, the GEAM has said that a simultaneous examination will have to be conducted with ICAR on the consequences of GM mustard on honeybees as well as pollinators.
• GEAC, this approval is not final approval for commercial release but a step forward.
• This approval is valid for the next four years.
• Some of the environmentalist activists and the Swadeshi Jagran Manch have objections to this move, and they urged the government to not give final approval.

The man behind the genetically modified (GM) mustard, Deepak Pental, disclosed that India's first transgenic food crop to be granted approval and he also said that the technology behind the GM mustard is safe as well as effective. The GEAC (Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee), the central regulator, has approved the genetically modified (GM) mustard developed by Pental and his colleagues at Delhi University for commercial cultivation.

In one of the interviews, Pental said, "There is a need to cut through the haze (on transgenic technologies) and take a tough stand. You can either make a hard decision or kill something by taking no action. "

The professor and the biotechnologist said that this was a "big leap for the country in view of India's dependency on edible oils In India, the demand for edible oils is around 60% for domestic use. The Ukraine war disrupted the global supply chain this year, driving up edible oil prices by a decade.

Genetic-technology backers have welcomed GM mustard as a sign of home-grown scientific prowess. The activists who are opposing the GM mustard allege that the mustard was cleared by overlooking "big concerns over environmental safety".

Pental stated that "The genes used in GM mustard have been deregulated in countries such as Canada, the US, and Australia, which are all big producers of honey. No study anywhere has shown any adverse impact of GM crops on pollinators." Bees are the life-vital pollinators. There are so many concerns arising about the GM crops can impact bees in many ways. One of them is by changing their eating and foraging patterns. GM technologies that give crops the ability to resist and kill pests can potentially do the same to bees, anti, GM advocates said.

Welcoming the decision

The founder director of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC) has written on Facebook that this move will help to solve many problems related to the low production and yields that arise from the narrow variability of Indian mustard germplasm, lack of hybridization, and infestation of biotic and abiotic stresses.
Shivendra Bajaj, executive director of the Federation of Seed Industry of India, said that the technology will help efficient breeding of better hybrids of mustard that will help in increasing yields and will also help to resist diseases. "We hope this approval ushers in an era of technology use in seed improvement and agriculture," he said.

OPPOSING VIEWS

Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) said it was hopeful that the competent authority for final approval, the minister of environment and forest in this case, wouldn't give the final nod.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The GEAC has approved the field trials and NOC of GM potato, rubber, and cotton, but it is not related to GM mustard, and they are part of other agenda items.

EARLIER
The Genetic Appraisal Committee (GEAC) under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has recommended the "environmental release" of the transgenic hybrid mustard DMH-11 fir seed production and is conducting field examination studies to know the effects of GM mustard on honeybees as well as pollinating insects.

WHAT EXACTLY IS HYBRID MUSTARD?

Hybridization involves crossing two genetically different plant varieties that can even be from the same species. The first-generation (F1) offspring from such crosses tend to have higher yields than what either parent can individually give. Such hybridization isn't easy in mustard, as its flowers have both female (pistil) and male (stamen) reproductive organs, making the plants largely self-pollinating. Since the eggs of one plant cannot be fertilized by the pollen grains of another, it limits the scope for developing hybrids - unlike in cotton, maize, or tomatoes, where this can be done through simple emasculation or physical removal of anthers.

So, WILL INDIAN FARMERS FINALLY PLANT GM MUSTARD?

The answer is no, not this year. There are no seeds available and now the season for planting is almost over. We have to see if the central government will approve the GEAC's recommendations or not. The motive of this move is to decrease the edible oil import rate. India produces only 8.5-9 million tonnes (mt) of edible oil annually while importing 14-14.5 mt, which entailed a record of foreign exchange outgo of $18.99 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022.

MUSTARD CULTIVATION

• Mustard is cultivated by 6 million farmers in our country at around 6.5 and 7 million hectares of land across the several states such as, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh..
• DMH-11 has been shown to deliver 30 percent higher yields as compared to the existence varieties. The average yield of existing mustard varieties is around 1,000-1,200 kilograms per hectare, while the global average is over 2,000-2,200 kilograms.