आज़ाद भारत

Do you remember how citizens collectively ensured that GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) like Bt brinjal, which are unneeded, unwanted and unsafe, do not enter our food plates or our farms back in 2010? That was when the Government of India placed an indefinite moratorium on the release of this Bt brinjal, a GM food crop, taking cognizance of the many reasons why it should not be allowed for commercial cultivation. Back then, the government said it was placing the GMO on an indefinite moratorium being “ responsive to society and responsible to science ”. Further, 15 years of Bt cotton cultivation in India exposed the hype and lies around this GMO too – the insect for which Bt cotton has been created has developed resistance, and farmers are using more pesticides than ever before on cotton crop in the country. We have also seen how one Multi-National Corporation – Monsanto – has gained a monopolistic control over the cotton seed market in the country. And farmer suicides continue