NOTE: This move by Orissa's Ag Minister follows last week's rejection of GMOs by the Ag Minister for the Indian state of Kerala: "No GM crop trials and cultivation will be allowed in Kerala."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8045
EXTRACTS: "We are not for any genetically modified (GM) crop, let alone Bt Brinjal. There is no credible scientific study to stand by the GM crops. Nor are there reports from anywhere in the country about farmers welcoming it," agriculture minister Surendra Nath Nayak said. "On the contrary, public protests against GM crops are galore," he added.
"We allowed Bt Cotton because it was not a food item and would bring bigger gains to farmers. But reports are not very encouraging. Farmers caught in input, output and marketing riddles do not seem happy. We are closely watching the situation," the minister said.
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Loud no to Bt Brinjal
Orissa Government Decides To Prevent Entry Of The GM Crop, TI0706-28
BHUBANESWAR
Rajaram Satapathy I TNN
Bhubaneswar: The Orissa government will not allow Bt Brinjal inside the state because it fears that the genetically modified crop may endanger the bio-safety of native farm products.
"We are not for any genetically modified (GM) crop, let alone Bt Brinjal. There is no credible scientific study to stand by the GM crops. Nor are there reports from any where in the country about farmers welcoming it," agriculture minister Surendra Nath Nayak said. "On the contrary, public protests against GM crops are galore," he added.
Nayak made known the government stand in the backdrop of public protests against the reported move of the Centre for field trial of Bt Brinjal in the coastal Kendrapada, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Puri.
Reports said Bt Brinjal figures on the agenda of the genetic en-gineering approval committee (GEAC) under the Union ministry of environment and forests and intense lobbying has been going on for allowing field trial of it in several states, including Orissa.
Orissa, a few years back permitted Bt Cotton, now grown mostly in four tribal districts. "We allowed Bt Cotton because it was not a food item and would bring bigger gains to farmers. But reports are not very encouraging. Farmers caught in input, output and marketing riddles do not seem happy. We are closely watching the situation," the minister said.
Speculation is rife that the state government may not be able to put a rider on field trial of Bt Brinjal or for that matter any GM crop. Brinjals are said to have originated from India. Orissa alone has 226 known varieties of brinjals. There is no dearth of brinjals as a vegetable in the state and in and around Bhubaneswar scores of varieties of brinjals are grown.
It is feared that Bt Brinjal would contaminate the native varieties, beside causing genetic pollution to the estimated 700 varieties of paddy and the more than 7,000 species of flora in the state.
The minister maintained that the government would "surely in-tervene" as it involved the future of farmers and the state's rich biodiversity.
He said instead, the state government is encouraging "organic farming", particularly in veg-etable cultivation. "The use of fertiliser and chemical pesticide in vegetables is the root cause of many diseases. To counter this, the government has made budgetary provisions this year to give subsidy for popularising vermiculture in villages," the minister said.