Poisoning the Food The story of Bt. Brinjal

On 14th October 2009, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee – G.E.A.C. gave the approval for the commercial cultivation of Bt.Brinjal. As this news was flashed in T.V. and the news papers, it caused a stir in the whole country and the farmers, the common people and the N.G.O.s organized protest rallies, seminars and speeches all over the country against Bt.Brinjal. What is this Bt.Brinjal, and what caused the public to protest against it? The Indian Brinjal Brinjal is one of the most popular vegetables of India. In fact India is the country of origin of Brinjal. The credit of domesticating Brinjal, which was a wild plant, goes to the ancient Indians. Brinjal has been cultivated in the country, for at least 4000 years. A wide variety of brinjals suitable for different agro climatic conditions, social and cultural requirements have been evolved by the Indian farmers. It is said more than 2000 varieties of brinjals are grown in India. That is the rich bio-diversity of brinjal cultivation in India. In Orissa state alone about 226 varieties of brinjal are cultivated. In India about 76 lakh tons of brinjal is grown in 472,000 hectares of land. Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhrapradesh and Karnataka are in the fore front of brinjal cultivation. In Karnataka 37,000 acres are under brinjal cultivation with an annual output of 360,000 tons. In fact there is no shortage of brinjal in the country as made out by the Bio-technology Industry. What is Bt.Brinjal? Most of the agricultural crops are attacked by fruit and shoot borers. Brinjal crop also faces this problem. Earlier the crop scientists recommended the spraying of chemical pesticides to control the fruit and shoot borers. They were also telling that the pesticide sprays would not cause any harm to human, animal and ecological health. Now the very same crop scientists have started shouting from house tops, that the use of pesticides is not only harmful to human, animal and ecological health but also increases the cost of cultivation to the farmers. They say they have come up with a new technology to tackle the problem of fruit and shoot borers. That new technology is called Bio-Technology or Genetic Engineering – G.E. Bacillus Thuriengensis - Bt. is a widely found soil bacterium. It produces a chemical, which is toxic to fruit and shoot borers. The scientists of Monsanto (World’s largest American Bio-Technology MNC) have developed a technology in which the gene-cry 1 Ac of the Bacillus thuringiencis, which is responsible for the production of the toxin, is cut and removed and the gene is inserted into the cell of brinjal seed. The brinjal plant grown out of such a seed produces the toxin in all its various parts such as the roots, the stem, the leaves, the flower, the fruit and so on. When the insect pest attacks the shoots and fruits of the brinjal plant, it consumes the toxin and dies. Since the bio-pesticide is produced by the plant itself, Monsanto says that there is no need to spray pesticides externally. Thus the farmers are not only protected against fruit and shoot borer insect pests, but also the expenditure on pesticides. Such a brinjal which carries an alien gene of Bacillus thuriengensis is called Bt.Brinjal. It is also called Genetically Modified Brinjal or G.M.Brinjal. Food products grown from this technique are called G.M.Food. So Bt.Brinjal is a G.M.Food. Today scientists are carrying disgusting experiments such as implanting pig gene into cabbage, human gene into rice, firefly gene into peas, and cows, fish genes into tomatoes, spider gene into goats and scorpion gene into corn etc. Such experiments may be described as genetic pollution. Genetic Engineering and the production of G.M.Food are against the principles of Nature and therefore the consumption of G.M.Food may cause serious adverse effects on the health of the people, animals and environment. The Bt.Brinjal development programme in India is being carried on under Agri Biotechnology Support Programme – ABSP of United States Agency for International Development – USAID. The various agencies participating in this programme are, 1) Monsanto – (U.S.A.) 2) Mahico (Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company) – Mumbai 3) Vegetables Research Institute of India – Varanasi 4) University of Agricultural Sciences – Dharwad (Karnataka) 5) Tamilnadu Agricultural University – Coimbatore. The University of Agricultural sciences, Dharwad has conducted Bt.Brinjal experiments in 5 centers namely Brahmavara and Kalloli in Karnataka, two centers in Maharashtra and one center in Goa. 5 local brinjal varieties were used to develop their BT varieties, namely, Kudachi, Malapur, Mattugulla, Rabakali and Goa 112. Bt.Brinjal is the first G.M.Food to be grown in India. It is a test case for Monsanto/Mahico. If it succeeds in getting the approval of the Ministry of Environment and Forests for commercial cultivation, it is prepared to flood the country with more than 50 G.M.Food such as G.M.Cabbage, G.M.Corn, G.M.Cauliflower, G.M.Chickpea, G.M.Groundnut, G.M.Maize, G.M.mustard, G.M.Okra, G.M.Pigeonpea, G.M.Potato, G.M.Papaya, G.M.Rice, G.M.Sorghum and G.M.Tomato. The fight against Bt.Brinjal is very important because if we fail in it, the country will be flooded with G.M.Food with disastrous consequences. Dangers of G.M.Food 1) The Monsanto scientists and other kept scientists of the government are claiming loudly that Bt.Brinjal and for that matter all G.M.Foods are safe and they will have no adverse effects on the health of the people, animals and environment. But these scientists of India have lost all credibility. It is the very same scientists who claimed that using chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides in Agriculture are good and safe. Now after 40 years today everybody knows the havocs caused by chemical fertilizers and pesticides on Indian agriculture. Now they have changed their tunes and started advocating G.M. as safe. How can we believe these chameleons? Today everybody knows that scientists have kept themselves for sale. 2) According to Dr.Pushpa.M.Bargava, a well known scientist and founder of the centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, “Bio safety cannot be guaranteed in a short span of time. It’s a long process. There are a whole lot of protocols to be carried out, which were not done in the case of Bt.Brinjal.” 3) BT. Cotton was also claimed to be safe. But several cases of allergic reactions like mild to severe itching, red and swollen eyes have been reported among agricultural labourers from Madhya Pradesh. Large number of goats and cattle have reportedly died by eating BT. Cotton leaves in Warangal District of Andhra Pradesh. 4) French geneticist Gilles Eric Seralini, commissioned by Green Peace, to check the claims made by Mahyco at the GEAC, has pronounced that the data submitted was insufficient and misleading on several counts and the GEAC wanting in diligence. 5) Scientists with social concern are warning that consumption of G.M.Food may harm intestines, kidneys and reproductive systems. Children may be more prone to such consequences. “Bt.Brinjal will be a catastrophe as it contains antibiotic resistant marker gene, which has the potential to unleash super diseases that are not known to us now. It will turn our intestinal bacteria into living pesticide factories, says Jeffrey M. Smith, Founder Director, Institute for Responsible Technology, Iowa U.S.A. 6) Brinjal flower is conducive to high rate of crosspollination. Therefore there is the danger of desi brinjal varieties getting spoilt due to cross pollination from fields in the vicinity cultivating Bt.Brinjal. 7) Bt.Brinjal destroys the bio-diversity of Brinjal in the country. 8) Monsanto and its kept scientists claim that Bt.Brinjal is superior to indigenous varieties and it is quite safe. But if that is true why are they afraid of labeling them? Bt.Brinjal looks similar to desi brinjal. One cannot make out the difference. Danger lies here. Therefore it is necessary for us to demand labeling of Bt.Brinjal. 9) Every consumer has right to choose safe food. If Bt.Brinjal and other G.M.Foods are not labeled, it violates consumers’ rights. Thus Bt.Brinjal and other G.M.Foods violate Consumer Protection Act of India. 10) However it is very difficult to find out whether brinjal or any food carries alien genes. India does not have such sensitive equipments and laboratories. Therefore labeling of G.M. Foods is impossible at present. Till such time as such facilities are created in adequate numbers, we must demand that the government should not permit commercial cultivation of G.M.Foods. 11) G.M.Foods will not benefit Nature, the Environment and certainly not the mankind. The only beneficiaries are a handful of Multinational Agri. business corporate such as Monsanto, Syngenta, Dupont, Bayer and so on. Anti G.M. Movement 180 countries in the world do not allow G.M.Foods. 22 countries in Europe have regions wanting to be G.M. Free. States in Australia, regions in New Zealand and Brazil, the countries of Venezuela, Zambia, Sudan, Angola and others all want to be G.M. Free. France, Hungary, Italy, Greece, Austria, Poland and Romania have all banned Monsanto’s Mon 810 G.M. corn because of its documented hazards to bio diversity and human health. G.M.Crops are against the principles of Nature and therefore they cannot be safe. G.M.Crops are protected by strong Intellectual Property Rights Acts. They destroy farmer’s traditional freedom to save, share and use seeds. It will lead to corporate tyranny over Indian Agriculture and Agriculturists. G.M.Crops will destroy the low cost, natural and sustainable agriculture which India has practiced for thousands of years. It is our sacred duty to preserve, protect and perpetuate the farmer centric; low cost natural and sustainable Agriculture of India, which has sustained our economy, society and our rich culture since thousands of years. Come! Let us all protest against the onslaught of G.M.Crops. Do you know?  A recent research report by the Austrian Government States that consumption of one of the GM Foods – Bt corn – For instance can lead to infertility.  In UK, a study found that soya allergies skyrocketed to 50% after GM soya bean were imported.  Russian Academy of Sciences reported six times higher mortality rate for new-born rats when the mother rat was fed on a diet of modified soya.  Italian researchers have found that GM soya affected the liver and pancreas of mice.  Even seed giant Monsanto’s own studies have shown that some rats fed on Gm corn had smaller kidneys and variations in the composition of their blood, while the rats fed on normal maize were healthy.  Australia had even to abandon a decade – long attempt to develop Genetically Modified Peas when an official study found it caused lung damage.  Independent analysis of Mahyco’s Bt.Brinjal biosafety data proved that the Genetically Modified (GM) Brinjal is unsafe for human consumption. The study team led by Prof. Gilles-Eric SEralini of committee for Independent Research and Information on genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN), France concluded that Bt.Brinjal release into the environment, for food, feed or cultures may present a serious risk for human and animal health and the release should be forbidden. Quotable Quotes  “Have mercy on the planet. Stop using Genetically Modified food.” Sri Sri Ravi Shankar – Guruji  “This time it involves you, through the food you eat. If there is a reason to get angry, it is now!” Devinder Sharma Prominent Food & trade Analyst  “GMO is man’s heinous act of playing God and can lead only to total destruction of the planet.” Jai chaitanya Dasa, ISKON  “Production and promotion of Genetically Modified Foods is an act of Bio-terrorism. Question is – should we remain a mute spectator and let the biotech companies use our bodies as their slaves in India?” Mahesh Bhatt Film maker & presenter of Poison on Platter Source – “MY RIGHT TO SAFE FOOD” *******************************************************************