No proposal to ban GM field trials: Ramesh

'Steps adequate to avoid contamination of soil, crops during trials'

PTI | March 3, 2010



Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh today said the prescribed stipulations to avoid contamination of soil and traditional crops were adequate and there was no proposal to ban field trial of genetically modified crops.

"There is no proposal to ban the field trials and research of GM crops in the country as the prescribed stipulations are adequate to avoid contamination of soil and traditional crops," he told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

Ramesh said all the field trials are subject to stringent norms such as maintaining a crop specific isolation distance from the periphery of the experimental site to other compatible fields as prescribed under the Indian Minimum Seed Certification Standards.

The trials are also subject to biological barrier by planting border rows all around the experimental plot; submission of a validated event specific test protocol of 0.01 percent before undertaking the trials; and post harvest restrictions, he said.

"The prescribed stipulations are adequate to minimise contamination of soil and other traditional crops due to gene flow, if any," Ramesh said.

The minister said following a direction from the Supreme Court, it was clarified that field trials form an integral part of research and development of GM crops.

Comments

 

Other News

Income Tax dept holds Ghatkopar Outreach on new IT Act

The Income Tax Department organised an outreach programme in Ghatkopar, Mumbai, to raise awareness about the key features of the Income Tax Act, 2025, effective April 1, 2026. The initiative is part of a nationwide effort to promote taxpayer awareness, simplify compliance, and strengthen a transparent, eff

Making AI work where governance is closest to people

India’s next governance leap may not solely come from digitisation. It will come from making public systems more intelligent, more adaptive, and more responsive to the dynamics at the grassroots. That opportunity is especially significant at the panchayat level, where governance is not an abstract po

Borrowing troubles: How small loans are quietly trapping youth

A silent crisis is playing out in the pocket of young India, not in stock markets or government treasuries, but in smartphones of college students and first-jobbers who clicked on the Apply Now button without reading the small print.  A decade ago, to take a loan, you had to do some paperwor

A 19th-century pilgrim’s progress

The Travels of a Sadhu in the Himalayas By Jaladhar Sen (Translated by Somdatta Mandal) Speaking Tiger Books, 259 pages, ₹499.00  

India faces critical shortage of skin donors amid rising burn cases

India reports nearly 70 lakh burn injury cases every year, resulting in approximately 1.4 lakh deaths annually. Experts estimate that up to 50% of these lives could be saved with adequate access to skin donations.   A significant concern is that around 70% of burn victims fall wi

Not just politics, let`s discuss policies too

Why public policy matters Most days, India`s loudest debates stop at the ballot box. We can name every major leader and recall every campaign slogan. Still, far fewer of us can explain why a widow`s pension is delayed or how a government school`s budget is actually approved. That


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter