Bhubaneswar: At a Press Meet held here it was discussed that it is a tragedy that Bt Brinjal is close to being officially approved. An expert committee report (EC-2) has been placed before the GEAC by the seed company and in just one meeting the report was approved. Nobody raised any objection or asked for independent studies to know whether the report of the company was valid or not.

In a few days Sri Jairam Ramesh will be in Bhubaneswar to conduct a national consultation which will also target 6 other cities. The time of little more than three hours allotted will not see even a beginning of the debate, let alone reach any conclusion. It is being questioned whether the consultation process is a ploy to show that all stakeholders were given the chance to speak.

Many scientists have studied the expert committee report (EC-2) and the data included in it. Prof. Gilles-Eric Séralini of Committee for Independent Research and Information on Genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN), France studied the report, analysed the data made available and came to the conclusion that Bt Brinjal is unfit for public consumption. In his independent scientific appraisal of Mahyco-Monsanto’s Bt Brinjal feeding studies he declared that “Bt Brinjal may present a serious risk for human and animal health and the release should be forbidden”. 

He pointed out that the chemical components of the Bt Brinjal itself were different from ordinary brinjal. Bt brinjal appears to contain 15% less kcal/100 g, has a different alkaloïd content, and 16-17 mg/kg Bt insecticide toxin poorly characterized for side effects, and produced by the plant genetically modified for this. In animals fed this GMO, several parameters were effected including blood cells or chemistry, with significant differences according to the period of measurement during the study or the sex of the animal. These include prothrombin (blood clotting) time, biochemical parameters such as total bilirubin (an indicator of liver health). Alkaline phosphatase was also changed, as well as feed consumption and weight gain; milk production in cows was 10- 14% higher. There was more milk and more roughage dry matter intake as if the animals were treated by a hormone. Rats GM-fed had diarrhoea, higher water consumption, liver weight decrease as well as relative liver to body weight ratio decrease.

Bt brinjal produces a protein in the vegetable cells, inducing resistance towards at least kanamycin, a well known antibiotic.

 It is unfortunate that despite such findings medical teams have not got together to conduct proper bio-safety studies. During the last meeting of the GEAC, health officials were present but were asked not to raise any objections.

This was followed by charges of corruption. A key member of the committee has a vigilance case against him for showering favours on a company. Two member who were a part of the group which wrote the Expert Committee Report – 2 (EC-2) was also in the group that scrutinized it and granted approval. 

In October, an Expert Committee gave its approval to Bt Brinjal. Now not just activists or dissenters, even the Chairman of the expert group, Dr Arjula Reddy concedes that necessary tests were not done. He is heard admitting in an interview with CNN-IBN:"Genetically Engineered food products will not be equal to the non-genetically engineered food products. That's for sure. Now, how much damage, we do not know at this stage"!

The inevitable risk of contamination will threaten the 300 or more brinjal varieties in Orissa. In the state people consume a lot of the vegetable relished in various cooking methods. It is consumed almost daily. In land under vegetable cultivation in Orissa brinjal commands the highest 22% share showing the popularity of the crop. It is cultivated in all districts of the state the major districts being Keonjhar, Kalahandi and Mayurbhanj. In India the brinjal has a 4000 year old history and some varieties are used by ayurvedic practitioners as medicine. Allowing commercial cultivation of Brinjal will irreversibly damage the biodiversity of the crop and make all brinjal toxic.

There are facts that prove brinjal cultivated with Non Pesticidal Pest Control methods (NPM) fair very well than under chemical inputs. The fruit is also free from Pesticidal residues.

The question thus raises its head, “Should the Bt Brinjal be approved at all?” In this age of democracy should multinational companies be allowed to mass poison entire populations? The contradiction is obvious. President Obama eats organic food whereas the American policy is to let GM food get to as many countries as possible.