The people inside the venue made their stance against Bt Brinjal clear

Due to the tight security around the venue we were not allowed to interact with Jairam Ramesh when he arrived. Although he was quite interested in speaking to the four brinjal mascots standing behind a well maintained line of control by the Police. Throughout the consultations the brinjal mascots volunteered to roam around outside the auditorium, engaging anti-Bt Brinjal protestors as well as Bt Brinjal supporters.

After an hour of chaos, the consultations began. Farmers were called to talk first, followed by scientists, NGOs and other interested individuals. A lot of farmers stated their reasons for wanting Bt Brinjal. Most of the reasons centered around the need to eliminate the high costs and harmful effects of using pesticides on their brinjals. They vociferously denied allegations of being bought out by Monsanto.

The farmers speaking against Bt Brinjal highlighted the need for saving our seeds from the hands of corporate seed giants like Monsanto and argued for pesticide free farming. The session finally ended with 14 farmers speaking in favour, and 12 against.

The session with the scientists was a little more sobre. The Minister was able to call on about 20 scientists. While there was opposition to some of the facts presented by anti-Bt scientists, the data that was presented on the toxicity levels, nutrition and efficacy of clinical trials being done on the crop was largely undisputed. Approximately 13 scientists spoke against Bt and five spoke for it.

It was indeed heartening to see huge majority of the scientists opposing the introduction of Bt brinjal in a city like Hyderabad which a seat of scientific excellence, reiterating the fact that the fears against GM food are not merely emotional but stem from scientific concerns.

The NGOs spoke next. Their stand was predominantly anti-Bt Brinjal. After four NGO representatives spoke, two doctors who were vehemently against Bt Brinjal were allowed to speak.

Though a little disappointed with the protests and chaos during the consultation Jairam Ramesh announced that he understands that there are valid concerns on Bt Brinjal and and he will keep that in mind while making his decision public on February 10th.

Over to Bangalore now where the last of the public consultations is happening.

Signing off
Team Hyderabad

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A group of volunteers from Era Organics, Bhoomi and other groups with eye masks organised by Greenpeace.

“Today being Martyr’s day, we gather at Mahatma Gandhi’s statue on MG road to show our solidarity to those fighting against the introduction Bt Brinjal. The healthy response received from youth and faculty from various colleges is heartening especially from Biotechnology colleges such as Reva Institute of Science and Biotechnology, Mount Carmel College and more. We are fasting to safeguard our fundamental right to food security against the onslaught of Bt Brinjal and GM foods. We will not be subjected to toxic foods,” said Sangita Sharma from My Right to Safe Food.

Agricultural ministers of Orissa and Kerala also joined the fast in their respective states. Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal have formally announced their decision against introducing Bt Brinjal.

Bt Brinjal has been produced by inserting a toxin gene, Cry 1 Ac, from a soil bacterium called Bacillus thuringenesis [Bt] into brinjal plant using the technique of genetic engineering. It has been developed by Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company Ltd [Mahyco].The producers claim that by producing the toxin the plant will be able to kill the major insect pest in Brinjal, the Fruit and Shoot Borer. GEAC, the regulatory body approved the crop on the basis of the safety test data presented by Mahyco. However, there is no long term feeding studies to prove the safety of this crop. Independent experts including the Supreme Court nominee in GEAC, Dr Pushpa Bhargav has pointed out that there are several short comings in the tests conducted by the company. The stiff resistance from different sections of the society following the approval forced the Government to conduct public consultations before taking a final decision.

“Farmers of this country have not asked for Bt Brinjal. The only one benefiting from this genetically modified crop are seed companies like Mahyco and their American boss Monsanto, the largest seed multinational in the world,” reminded Kodihalli Chandrashekhar of Karnataka Raya Rythu Sangha, the farmers union which is spearheading the resistance against GM crops in Karnataka.

“Bt Brinjal like any other GM crop poses a threat to democracy of our country as it violates our basic rights to safe and secure food,” said Bhakti Nefretiti, Campaigner, Greenpeace India. She further stated, “It is time that the people of this country unite and say no to it.”

Organizations like Sahaja Samrudha, ICRA, Samvada were also present. Bangalore will be hosting the last of the 7 city public consultations being chaired by the Union Minister for Environment and Forests, Mr. Jairam Ramesh. Groups gathered at the Gandhi Smriti urged Bangaloreans to take part in the consultations to save our rights over our food.

For further information, contact:

Sangita Sharma, My Right to Safe Food, 9448068347

Krishna Prasad, Sahaja Samrudha, 9880862058

Gayathri, Icra, 080–25283370

Mr. Jayaram, Era Organics, 9900911777

Bhakti Nefretiti, Greenpeace India, 9663655664

Media Contact:

Syed Mehaboob, Greenpeace India, syed.mehaboob@greenpeace.org, 9731301983

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A greater number of concerns were voiced at the fifth of the seven consultations on Bt Brinjal. This was held at the Law Bhawan, Chandigarh. A majority, which represented farmers, scientists, NGOs and other groups, said ‘No To Bt Brinjal’.

Jairam Ramesh pleads with the protesters who barged into the venue.

Twelve of the 20 odd farmers voiced their concerns with the possible introduction of Bt Brinjal. While some of these spoke from their experience with Bt Cotton—and the resultant new pests like millibug, new infections in the plant and deteriorated soil health over a period of time—others raised questions about the serious health problems with pesticides, which were also introduced by these very companies. They felt that alternatives should be considered rather than going in for another technology whose effects in the long run are not known. Upendar Singh of the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh reminded the audience that the farmer is a scientist in his own right and his knowledge on the field must be taken into account seriously.

Of the 10 scientists present at the consultations, five raised their concern with specific reference to Bt Brinjal. Dr. G.P.I. Singh, Director, Medical College, spoke of genetically modified foods being associated with 65 diseases like cancers, multi-organ disorders, and unpredictable mutations and stressed on the need for long-term and multi-generation tests. He also underscored the fact that this is an irreversible technology.

Scientists with an understanding of organic brought out the direct relation between Bt Cotton and allergies in the United States. While some scientists shot down the arguments on health, suggesting that the concerns on cancer and health were irrelevant and bogus, Dr. Mira Shiva emphatically stated that the hasty introduction was completely blind-spotted the risk to health. She pointed to several problems including those related to the presence of an anti-biotic marker gene, inadequacy and incompleteness of inter-generational tests, increased vulnerability to communicable diseases. However, when she questioned why the Health Ministry representatives had not raised these issues in the GEAC, she was shouted down by the Minister, who insisted that the integrity of the GEAC must not be questioned.

Dr. P. Anand Kumar, member of the GEAC, was also present though he was booed by the audience and not allowed to speak.

Points of concern that were raised in this session included problems related to diversity contamination, which was raised by agricultural economist Subash Sharma. Gayatri Sharma of Himachal Pradesh spoke of soil deterioration. Also highlighted were the facts that there were no epidemiological studies to refute that there was no correlation between the increasing ailments in the United States following the introduction of Genetically Modified foods.

Protestors barged into the small room with limited seating and challenged Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, saying that the session was initiated much before the proposed time, and did not allow all the people present to make their point.

Team Chandigarh

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People started flowing into the IMA hall premises from 6am in the morning to participate in the public consultation on Bt Brinjal in Nagpur, which was the fourth in the series of seven consultations. Everyone wanted to express their views and be part of one of the historic events in the history of Agriculture in the country.

The hall with a seating capacity of 500 people was full in no time. With hundreds of people left outside, the atmosphere was tense. Inside the hall the farmers started raising slogans against Bt. Soon, Sharad Joshi walked in with his small pro-GM crowd and there were slogans for Bt Brinjal. But their voices were shadowed by the anti-Bt Brinjal slogans.

Minister Jairam Ramesh speaks to the protesters outside the venue after the consultation in Nagpur

Minister Jairam Ramesh walked in at around 11 am. The minister made it very clear that he came to Nagpur to find out the impacts of Bt cotton, even though he didn’t want to compare Bt cotton with Bt Brinjal.

Farmers were given the chance to speak first. Ghanshyam Chopde, a natural farmer from Vidharbha was the first to speak. He set the tone with a strong discourse against Bt Brinjal. Shalini Sudhagar, who came with two widows whose husbands committed suicide after the failure of Bt Cotton, spoke next. The entire hall went silent while she gave her speech.

Among the prominent farmer leaders, Vijay Jawandhia and Avinash Kakkade opposed the introduction of Bt Brinjal while Sharad Joshi supported it. Farmer group discussion was mainly focused around Bt Cotton. Majority of the farmers equated Bt cotton with farmer distress and suicides. Altogether 21 farmers spoke out of which only 7 spoke in favour of Bt Brinjal.

The scientists spoke next. The corporate scientists and few ICAR scientists spoke in favour of Bt Brinjal. Generally they were trying to counter the arguments against Bt. But they were given contradicted by scientists like Prof. Nimbalkar, Prof Tharakate, Prof Thakare and Ashok Bang.

Civil groups, consumer forums and government officials were next in line. Chhattisgarh government’s official delegation opposed the introduction of Bt Brinjals and the Vidharbha Industries Association’s representative made it clear that these technologies should be treated with caution and hence should not be introduced in haste. Only 6 out of 19 people who spoke in this session supported the introduction of Bt Brinjal.

After the consultation, Jairam Ramesh spoke to the media and confirmed that he had received official letters from Chief Ministers of Orissa, Bihar, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Kerala asking for a moratorium on GM crops. West Bengal CM also opposed hasty introduction of Bt Brinjals.

The minster also listened to the concerns of the people who could not enter the consultation venue. Overall, Bt Brinjals received a negative response in Nagpur.

Signing off
Team Nagpur

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Our Bt Brinjal awareness drive kicked off at Futala Lake in Nagpur on Sunday. The entire idea was to do something to make people take notice of the issue and attend the consultations scheduled on 27th January.

Volunteers inform people about the harmful impacts of Bt Brinjal in Nagpur

As a part of our activity we hired a road side food cart owned by Baba Thakur, who has been selling food in the area for the psat 10 years, to serve brinjal pakodas. As soon as we told him about Bt Brinjal he said, “I will not serve GM food, and will do whatever I can to stop the entry of these foods into our food systems.” He decided to play his part in the mission to stop the entry of genetically modified food by treating the Sunday evening crowd to hot brinjal pakodas.

Several women and kids also joined the activity organized by Greenpeace India and YUVA, Nagpur to raise awareness about Bt Brinjal and its impact. Donning Brinjal costumes they moved around serving hot pakodas and handing over leaflets. Eight year old Atharva Tapas, a std III student of Narayana Vidyalam , youngest among the “desi brinjals”, was the focal point of attraction. Everyone was so impressed by his enthusiasm and knowledge on the topic.

The activity was long and fruitful and set a good precedent for the consultations scheduled on Wednesday. We will keep you updated about the results of the consultations. Keep an eye on this space.

Signing off,

Team Nagpur.

The brinjal pakoda cart with anti-Bt Brinjal messages in Nagpur

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Volunteers dressed as brinjals talk to people at Marine Drive in Mumbai

The volunteers educated the people present about the dangers of Bt Brinjal and urged them to participate in the public consultations, the Maharashtra chapter of which is taking place at Nagpur on the 27th of January. They urged people to fight to keep their food safe and our agriculture sustainable.

“India is the centre of origin of brinjal and we have relished our Brinjal dishes for ages. Now our dear brinjal and food safety are under threat from genetic modification” said Sourav Pal, a student of Khar Education Society’s College of Commerce and Economics, who was a part of the volunteers group.

Union Minister for Environment and Forests is on a consultation trail covering 7 locations in the country to collect public opinion and suggestions on whether to allow commercial cultivation and sale of Bt Brinjal. In the consultations in West Bengal, Orissa and Gujarat, farmers, scientists, doctors and consumers rejected the controversial crop and several state governments including Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar and Kerala have already announced that they will not allow Bt Brinjal in their states.

Greenpeace volunteers prepare for the public engagement activity in Mumbai

Bt Brinjal has been produced by inserting a toxin gene, Cry 1 Ac, from a soil bacterium called Bacillus Thuringenesis [BT] into Brinjal plant using the technique of genetic engineering. This variety has been developed by Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company Ltd [Mahyco]. The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) approved the crop on the basis of the safety test data presented by Mahyco. However, there are no long term studies to prove the safety of this crop. Independent experts including the Supreme Court nominee in GEAC, Dr Pushpa Bhargav have pointed out that there are several short comings in the tests conducted by the company. The stiff resistance from different sections of the society following the approval forced the Government to conduct public consultations before taking a final decision.

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On 19th January we held a public engagement activity at the Erragadda Rythu Bazaar. This is one of the biggest vegetable markets in Hyderabad and buyers and vendors flock this market in large numbers everyday.

Our goal was to talk to the vendors about the Bt Brinjal issue and make sure they are aware of the problems with Bt Brinjal. We started on our little activity by dispersing in groups of two or three to talk to brinjal vendors.

Vendor at the bazar showing his support against Bt Brinjal

Among the various interactions we had, our volunteers spoke to a farmer whose cow had fallen sick after eating Bt Cotton leaves. As soon as he heard about Bt Brinjal, he vehemently opposed the introduction and wanted to show his opposition by tying a headband. Another couple we interacted with wanted to spread more awareness about the issue among friends and relatives.

After two hours, when we felt had spoken to almost all the brinjal sellers, we had a small de-briefing with the volunteers. We were pleased to find out that they were more than happy to participate in the public consultation and would also help us in recruiting more people to attend it.

Overall, it was a fruitful day. We had good conversations and captured good pictures, for the photo wall we’ll display at the consultation. After some rest we’ll start getting ready for the big day of the consultation here.

That’s all for today!

We’ll keep you updated

Hyderabad team

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Jairam Ramesh at public consultations in Ahmedabad

Over 1,200 individuals gathered at the JB Auditorium, Ahmedabad Management Association for the third round of the seven consultations, proposed by Jairam Ramesh, Minister of Environment and Forests. People came from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat to voice their concerns on the much debated genetically modified food crop – Bt brinjal.

In the first session, out of 28 farmers who got to speak, 18 rejected Bt brinjal. In the second session, where scientists expressed their views and feedback, an overwhelming 13 scientists out of 15 scientists who spoke, took a stand against the entry of Bt Brinjal.

The minister spoke to an audience of over 500 stakeholders inside the auditorium while another 700 stood outside, waiting to be heard.

A young student from Ahmedabad presents Jairam Ramesh with a variety of non-Bt brinjal.

‘Let me choose what I eat’, ‘We are no lab rats’, ‘GM food an attack on the environment’ were some of the messages given to the Minister as he walked into the consultation. A young student from Ahmedabad also presented Jairam Ramesh with a varied variety of non-Bt brinjal reminding him that the future of India lies in his hands.

Within minutes of the Minister walking into the room, he suggested that Ahmedabad was important because Bt Cotton was successful here. The farmers and the scientists were equivocal in their opposition to the Bt Brinjal. Some even suggested that the seed manufacturers and the GEAC members should be made to eat Bt Brinjals for two years before it was introduced to the general public.

In turn, Jairam Ramesh assured that the ministry was in no hurry to come to a conclusion, and would not take a decision in a closed room.’

These three consultations seem to have set the mood for the remaining ones. As we move ahead, we hope to hear a lot more NOs to Bt Brinjal.

Team Ahmedabad

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Relished in every part of the country, Brinjal is certainly the king of vegetables. It is not just a king for the moneyed classes it is also a vegetable for the poor. Grown in great quantity across the country, brinjals are not only fast to cook but also easily available.

The vegetable offers a large variety of culinary delights in different parts of the country and even the world. Be it the Baingan bharta in the north, Gutti vankaya kura in Andhra Pradesh, Katharikai kozhambu in Tamil Nadu, Upperi in Kerala, Vangi bhath in Karnataka, Wangyacha bharit in Maharashtra, Sambharelu shak in Gujarat, Baingan jhonga in Bihar or Baigun bhaja in Bengal, every state has something special to offer when it comes to brinjals.

Rich in nutrition, Brinjal has a low calorific value and is a very healthy vegetable. It has high water content and provides calcium, phosphorous, potassium, fibre, folic acid, sodium and vitamins B and C. Different species of brinjal are used in the ayurveda preparations, especially the roots and stem of the plant. It is used in ayurveda as an analgesic, aphrodisiac and also for liver.

There is no guarantee that the genetically modified variety of Bt Brinjals will preserve all the qualities of the original brinjal. The technology will only cause irreversible damage to the indigenous variety of the vegetable. It is thus very important to stop the commercialization of these seeds.

The positive claims made by the seed company about the introduction of the genetically modified Bt Brinjal are a farce as there have been no proper tests to prove them. Studies have shown that these Brinjals are not suitable for human consumption. We know that if Bt Brinjals enter the market, all we get is a whole lot of toxins in our diet.

Past experience with Bt Cotton has shown us that though these varieties are made resistant to particular pests they become useless when attacked by other non-resistant pests. This only increases the use of regular pesticides which brings the farmer back to the original state and the costs only go up. Moreover, while regular pesticides and insecticides are sprayed on the outer part of the crop, the Bt Brinjal contains these inside. Thus we have no option but to consume it as it cannot be washed away like the regular pesticides.

The story of the Bt Brinjal is much bigger than what appears. Last year the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee under the ministry of environment and forests approved the commercialisation of the Bt Brinjal seeds. However after tremendous pressure from Greenpeace and environment and civil society groups the matter has been put for public consultation by environment minister Jairam Ramesh. The fate of several millions now depends on the outcome of these consultations taking place in 7 cities across the country.

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New Delhi, 14th October 2009: The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) today considered the approval of Bt Brinjal at their 97th meeting. Internal sources say that GEAC approved the environmental release of Bt Brinjal although there were three voices of dissent within the committee, including that of Supreme Court observer and noted molecular biologist Dr P.M Bhargava. It is further believed that committee’s recommendations have been sent for the final government approval for commercial release. If approved it will be the first Genetically modified food crop to be approved in India and also the first genetically modified vegetable to be approved for commercial cultivation anywhere in the world.

In January 2009, Prof. Gilles-Eric Séralini of Committee for Independent Research and Information on Genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN), France, in his independent scientific appraisal of Mahyco-Monsanto’s Bt Brinjal feeding studies said “Bt Brinjal may present a serious risk for human and animal health and the release should be forbidden.” The first independent scientific commentary of its bio-safety and increasing public opinion against GE foods had forced GEAC to review the data provided by the company.

Bt Brinjal approval process has been mired in controversy due to the complete lack of transparency and vested interest of experts in the committee reviewing the study. “The expert committee members like Dr. Mathura Rai, director of the Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, and Dr. Dilip Kumar of the Central Institute of Fisheries Education are either in partnership agreements with the Mahyco to develop Bt Brinjal or have done the safety tests for it. How can anyone trust a decision from a committee which seems to have an interest in to ensure Bt Brinjal gets the requisite approvals” expressed Jai Krishna, Campaigner, Greenpeace he further said “More importantly, GEAC has not address the fundamental question – does India need GE crops?”.

It took a 30 month long legal battle to bring out the bio-safety studies submitted by Mahyco to GEAC for the approval of its Bt Brinjal. Later in May, a 16 member subcommittee was set up by the GEAC to look into the concerns raised. It was pointed out by many CSO’s including Greenpeace that there is a serious conflict of interest in the sub-committee.

In June 2009, Mr. Jairam Ramesh, the Minister for Environment and Forests, under whose ministry sits GEAC, stated in public forums that he does not support GE foods and there is no great urgency for Bt Brinjal. Civil Society organizations and thousands of consumers have been emailing and faxing Mr. Ramesh on the eve of the meeting, to alert him of the impending GEAC meeting and reminding him of his promise.

If Bt Brinjal approval happens it would open the floodgates to all the 56 crops including 40 other food crops, which are presently undergoing various stages of approval. This in the absence of a labeling law leaves consumers with no choice.

“It is shocking to see that GEAC has mindlessly gone ahead and approved Bt Brinjal even when informed scientists and citizens of this country are raising serious concerns on the nature of the safety studies. GEAC by doing a charade with their regulatory gimmicks is putting the health and environment of our country in danger” said Jai Krishna. “We believe that the decision on Bt brinjal is a decision on food safety and food security of the country and hence should not be made by a beaurocratic body known to take sides with the industry. Now since the final decision is with the government, we hope that our government will stand by the people and not on the side of Seed companies who have a vested interest.”

Meanwhile, there has been growing concern from consumers and in the last one month, around 13 major processed food companies in India have stated their positions to not use GE ingredients in their products. Over 41,000 consumers have so far written to companies demanding companies to become GE free.

Greenpeace demands no approval of GE food crops be given as it is a threat to the health of the citizens and the environment.

For more information contact:
Jai Krishna, Campaigner Sustainable Agriculture, 0-98455-91992, jaikrishna.r@greenpeace.org
Syed Mehaboob, Communications, 0-9731301983, syed.mehaboob@greenpeace.org

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