India has approved the production of genetically modified mustard
Mustard Seed
India
Published Nov 1, 2022
Tridge summary
India has granted environmental approval for the production and cultivation of genetically modified mustard seeds, paving the way for the commercial use of its first GM crop and reducing import dependency. This is reported by economictimes.indiatimes.com. It is noted that India is the world's largest importer of edible oils, meeting more than 70% of its demand from Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia and Ukraine.
Original content
Geneticist Deepak Pental, who has been working on the creation of a genetically modified mustard hybrid for more than 10 years, noted that the commercial use of GM mustard seeds will take another couple of years. At the same time, India's Ministry of Science and Technology and, in particular, the Genetic Engineering Assessment Committee (GEAC) said that the country will simplify the rules for the production of genetically modified plants, calling the technology promising to solve the problem of growing imports of edible oil. It added that in 2017, Deepak Pental's team came close to getting government approval to grow GM mustard seeds commercially after years of field trials and analysis of crop data. But the process has been delayed by opposition from activists who oppose the use of transgenic technologies in agriculture. At the same time, the Prime Minister of the country, Narendra Modi, has repeatedly called on farmers to increase domestic production of oil crops in order to ...
By clicking “Accept Cookies,” I agree to provide cookies for statistical and personalized preference purposes.
To learn more about our cookies, please read our Privacy Policy.