Environmentalist warns about GM crops

A Greenpeace activist dressed as a brinjal protests against Bt brinjal. File photo

Noted environmentalist and former chairman of Kerala State Bio-Diverity Board V. S. Vijayan today warned the government about the dangers of Geneticaly Modified (GM)crops.

“GM crops will increase yield and it is solution to poverty in the country is a myth created by the advocates of

GM crops,” Mr. Vijayan told reporters here today.

Mr. Vijayan’s statement is in the back ground of CPI-M polit bureau member S. Ramachandran Pilla's recent remark that benefis of GM crops should be made available to farmers.

Mr. Vijayan wanted the government to stick to its declared stand of “GM crop free Kerala and GM Crop free India”.

Opposing the move to conduct field trial of GM rubber crop in the state, Mr. Vijayan said GM crops would only the burden of farmers by “making cultivation more costly”.

In the case of BT bringal, he said Kerala alone has more than 2500 variety of brinjal. “Once BT brinjal is introduced, the traditional seeds would be contaminated and finally terminated,” Mr. Vijayan said.

The environmental problems the GM crops would create would be irreversible, he added.