Tested Safe

A Greenpeace activist dressed as an aubergine protests against the possible cultivation of Bt brinjal - India's first GM food crop Photograph: Aijaz Rahi/AP

A fierce row over the future of the humble aubergine, staple ingredient of fiery brinjal curries for tens of millions of Indians, will reach a climax on Wednesday with a key government decision on the possible future commercial cultivation of genetically-modified strains of the plant. If permission is given, the aubergine will become the firstGM foodstuff to be grown in India.

The decision will be taken by the environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, who pledged last year to end the heated argument over whether aubergines modified with a gene from the soil bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis should be distributed to Indian farmers.

An alliance of voices ranging from environmentalists to leftwing politicians and Hindu extremists have called on Ramesh to deny permission for the commercial cultivation of the Bt Brinjal strain, named after the bacteria and the local word for aubergine.

"It will open the gate," said Leo Saldanha, an environmental campaigner in the southern city of Bengalooru. "It raises huge legal and cultural issues."

The decision Ramesh takes will reveal how far "India was willing to allow the farmer to be subordinated to corporate interests", he said.

Ramesh told one of the many rowdy meetings he has attended as part of a public consultation exercise that trying to reconcile the opposing camps had "turned [his] hair grey".

Aubergine is a major crop in India, where it has been cultivated for thousands of years. Though not native it is seen as an integral part of culture and diet, particularly of the poor.

Backers claim the modified aubergines would cut crop losses due to insect damage by more than half and drastically reduce pesticide use. They argue also that extensive animal testing has shown that the bacterium introduced into the aubergine, though toxic to boring insects, would not be harmful to humans.

Campaigners question the evidence, and argue that commercial interests have overly influenced the regulatory process. They say the 2,000-odd varieties of aubergine cultivated in India would be threatened if Bt Brinjal was introduced. "It is a hugely important decision, not just for India, for the whole world," said Dr Shiva Vandana, director of a network of groups campaigning against GM foods in India, and a key figure in the development of international biosafety treaties. "The question is whether or not public opinion will be listened to."

The seeds have been developed by Indian scientists but will be marketed by the Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company, an Indian firm partly owned by the US multinational Monsanto - the cause of much criticism and controversy.

The southern state of Kerala, run by an alliance of opposition leftwing parties, has already banned GM crops on the grounds that they are a threat to biodiversity.

Last week, the state's Marxist chief minister, VS Achuthanandan, claimed GM foods would lead to the "colonisation of the food sector.

"We shouldn't be a part of a system that will destroy traditional seeds and crops and allow [multinational corporations] to infringe on the agriculture sector," he said.

Hindu nationalists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have also taken up the aubergine's cause. Mohan Bhagwat, a senior RSS official, told a public meeting in Bengalooru last weekend that Bt Brinjal was "untested" and "dangerous" andits introduction would only benefit "the multinationals". He likened the new aubergines to "terrorist infiltrators" sent by foreign powers to destabilise India.

Government scientists have, however, told ministers that Bt Brinjal poses no threat. "Our experts examined the science behind Bt Brinjal and concluded that it is absolutely safe. The only thing that hasn't been done is human testing," Dr Maharaj Kishan Bhan, a senior research scientist at the ministry of science and technology said. "You can take a philosophical view that all GM foods are bad - but from a scientific point of view I would say it is fine."

GM crops have a chequered history in India, alternately praised as yield-boosting or suicide-inducing. Trials of a Bt cotton found it needed 70% less pesticide and gave 87% more crop than traditional plants. It was made by Monsanto, who provoked uproar by taking a patent over nap hal, wheat particularly suited to chapatis, but saying it had no plans to exploit the patent. The bitterest row has involved the claim, by Prince Charles among others, that failing GM crops led to suicides among farmers. Analysis by the International Food Policy Research Institute found that, if anything, the reverse was true. By 2006, Bt cotton covered 39% of cotton area, with yield doubled. India is the world's second largest cotton producer.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010Professor C. J. Leaver CBE, FRS, FRSE
Emeritus Professor of Plant Science
University of Oxford
Tel: +44 (0)1865 794 713
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chris.leaver@plants.ox.ac.uk