Presentation at Seattle University

1. Concerns with GM Crops
G. V. Ramanjaneyulu
Centre for Sustainable Agriculture
Presentation to students at University of Seattle
30th
May, 2013

2. Status of GM crops in the World
• Seventeen years after its
introduction, only 3.4% of the
world’s agricultural land is sown with
GM seed
• 63% of this is in the United States
and Brazil - confined to four crops
(corn, soybean, cotton and canola)
grown primarily as animal feed or for
fibre
• Just five countries, including India,
account for almost 90% of the total
agricultural land under GM
USA - 40.8%
Brazil - 21.4%
Argentina 14.03%
Canada 6.8%
India 6.3%
Total = 89.33%
US GM crops
Soy 91%
Corn 73%
Cotton 87%
Canola 80% (Canada)

3. Living Beings
Genetics
and
Environment

4. Genetics X Environment
Green Revolution Paddy
• Improved seed (Varieties, hybrids)
• Nursery, Puddling, Row transplantation
• Standing water
• Chemical Fertilisers
• Chemical Pesticides
System of Rice Intensification
• Any seed (Traditional, imp varieties and hybrids)
• Nursery, Puddling, Square transplantation
• Thin film of water
• Organic Fertilisers
• No chemical Pesticides

5. Understanding basics
Plant
Cell
Nucleus

6. Transfering characters between organisms

7. What is Bt cotton
Bt gene
Enzymes
Bacillus thurengiensis
SporeToxin
Bacteria
Cotton
Bt gene inserted
into cotton

8. Major Concerns
• Biosafety
– Human health
– Environment
– Biodiversity
• Sovereignty and control
– Market monopolies
– Intellectual Property Rights

9. Why regulate?
• Irreversible processes capable of changes upto
evolutionary level – “Living Modified Organisms” or
“Novel Organisms”
• Involves millions of livelihoods
• Involves basic food safety & food security questions
• Involves environmental implications – natural
resources and sustainability
• Involves socio-political/cultural rights of farmers &
consumers
• Involves trade security issues
• Also to conform to international obligations….

10. Biosafety & Beyond: Impact Assessment
In the short, medium and long term,
• Safety to human health
• Safety to beneficial organisms, livestock etc.
• Safety to other organisms and the environment (soil
biota etc.)
• Agronomic benefits (component of risk assessment in
India) – are there no other alternatives?
SOCIO-CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS, POLITICAL
IMPLICATIONS ETC.
IS BRINGING IN A GE CROP MORALLY & SOCIALLY
JUSTIFIABLE (Gene Technology Act, Norway)

11. Ideal regulatory regimes…
• Should be guided by policy level decisions (Is there a need, if
yes where, what, how, who etc.)
• Those policies should be formulated in a democratic fashion
(Referendums / “GM Nation” / Citizens’ Juries)
• Should have legislative backing (Acts & not just Rules)
• Should have a mix of technical (scientific) and social
perspectives governing decisions
• Decision making should be transparent, scientific, holistic
and long term in outlook and should involve primary
stakeholders (farmers, consumers, state govts)
• Should have independent research & peer review
• Should have elements of independent oversight, appeal,
redressal, liability

12. Indian Experience with Bt Cotton
• Key issues
• Relevance of GM crops
• Biosafety issues
• IPRs andMarket monopoly
• Conflicts of interests and scandals
• Studies on NPM vs/Bt cotton
• Documentary evidences on Violations of regulations
in field trials,
• Illegal GM food crop field trials
• First reports on Bronze wilt, Tobacco Streak Virus,
Mealybug
• Evidences on sheep death
• Studies on Environmental Risk Assessment and Socio
Economic Impacts
• Contamination
• IPRs
http://www.indiagminfo.org

14. GM foods in pipeline

15. Impact of herbicide tolerant crops

16. Herbicide resistant weeds increasing in USA
• About 61 million acres of GM crops are
now plagued by herbicide resistant weeds,
according to Stratus Agrimarketing’s
report.
• A study by Dr Charles Benbrook of
Washington State University, USA, found
that though insecticide use went down
the herbicide use went up, leading to an
overall increase in pesticide use of 404
million pounds from 1996 through 2011
due to use of GM crops Glyphosate
Resistant WeedsSource : Stratus Agri marketing Report (2013)

17. Can labelling work?
• Third world food habbits
• Who is guilty?
• California case….

18. • Contamination of centres of genetic diversity. E.g.
Cotton, rice, brinjal –India is centre of origin/diversity
• Unsolicited gene transfer to farmers’/other varieties
• Co-existence not possible:
• organic cotton and Bt Bikeneri narma in India
• LL rice in US
• Maize in CIMMYT
• Wheat in US
Genetic Contamination inevitable

19. Monopolyzing market
• IPR Driven
• Patents over genes, gene transfer
mechanisms, markers, promoters etc
(Bt/herbicide resistant plants at least 8 patents
Golden rice 72 patents IAAA)
• Mergers and Acquisitions-70% seed market
controlled by 10 companies

20. Broad patents
Though patents are granted only for specific innovations, instances of
broad patents are surfacing
• Cohen/Boyer patent covers all DNA transfer
• US patent no. 5,004, 863 for Agrobacterium mediated gene transfer
• US patent no. 5,120, 657 for Accell=FE Gene gun
• US patent no. 5,159,135 covers all genetically engineered cotton
plants
• EU patent no, 0,301,749,B1 covers all genetically engineered
soybeans
• Similar broad cotton patent has been granted India and applications
are pending in Brazil and China

21. Implications to agriculture
Percy Schmeiser, Bruno, Saskatchewan, facing legal bills of about 600,000
Canadian dollars
ISAAA (International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications)
identified 70 patents and 16 tangible property constraints (Material Transfer
Agreements- MTAs, licenses, agreements etc.) that could have implications for
commercialization of Golden Rice. The potential legal complexities of negotiating
these patent licenses led the inventors Potrykus and Beyer to strike a deal with
Greenovation (A University spin-off biotech company based in Freiburg,
Germany) and Astra Zeneca (A Multinational Life sciences company)
In 1994 CICR announced success in developing Bt cotton variety, not
commercialised due to IPRs not being in place
In 2012 CICR was forced to withdraw the Bt Bikeneri narma from market
All Bollgard 10 more Cotton hybrids with Bt developed by various companies are
pending with GEAC, all are under license from Monsanto paying royalty
AP government moved to MRTP to get the seed price reduced

22. Community Managed Sustainable
Agriculture in Andhra Pradesh
Basic Principles
 Regenerative, ecologically sound practices
 Organized action by communities in
planning, implementing and managing the
program
 Govt/ngos playing facilitating agency role
2004-05 started with 225 acres in one dist and
reached 7 lakh acres in 2007-08 in 18 dist. World
Bank says this is a good tool for poverty
eradication and now promoted as part of NRLM
With 50 % development expenditure one can
double the incomes of the farmers
A national program called Mahila Krishi
Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) is launched
based on this experiencce

23. 0.225 25
200 700
1300
2000
2800
3500 3600
0.1 15
80
300
600
1000
1500 1600 1770
2135 1997
1394 1541 1381
1015
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
Acerage ('000acres) Farmers ('000) Pesticide use (MT Active Ingradient)
Farmers and area covered under CMSA
http://65.19.149.140/pilots/cmsanew/index.html

24. States/UTs 2004-05 2005-06 2006-072007-08 2008-09 2009-10kg/ha
2000-01
kg/ha
2009-10
Punjab 6900 5610 5975 6080 5760 5810 0.98 0.82
Haryana 4520 4560 4600 4390 4288 4070 0.84 0.68
Andhra
Pradesh 2135 1997 1394 1541 1381 1015 0.34 0.09
Maharastra 3030 3198 3193 3050 2400 4639 0.17 0.24
Tamil Nadu 2466 2211 3940 2048 2317 2335 0.32 0.45
Gujarat 2900 2700 2670 2660 2650 2750 0.30 0.29
Kerala 360 571 545 780 272.69 631 0.31 0.26
Karnataka 2200 1638 1362 1588 1675 1647 0.17 0.14
Status of pesticide utilization in different states**
**Source: http://ppqs.gov.in/IpmPesticides.htm MT of active ingredient

25. Average Reduction in costs and net
additional income for different crops
Crops Reduction in cost
due to NPM (Rs)
Reduction in costs due to use
of organic fertilisers/manures
(Rs)
Net additional
income (Rs)
Paddy 940 1450 5590
Maize 1319 2357 5676
Cotton 1733 1968 5676
Chillies 1733 1968 7701
Groundnut 1021 3462 10483
Vegetables 1400 390 3790
3rd Party Evaluation of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) : Community Managed
Organic Farming implemented by SERP
Evaluation Team
Prof. R. Ratnakar, Director, Dr. M. Surya Mani, Professor, EXTENSION EDUCATION
INSTITUTE, (Southern Region), Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India

26. What we need?
• Long term and intergenerational biosafety to
be established
• Consumer choices
• Cartagena Biosafety Protocol: Avoid in
countries of centres of origin and centres of
diversity
• CBD Nagoya and Kaulalumpur sub-protocal:
Liability and Redress mechanism
• Promote alternatives where possible