In a serious setback for field tests of genetically modified (GM) rice, activists of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) have torched the sole field in Haryana where tests for the modified rice variety were being carried out.
The incident took place at Rampura in Karnal district on Saturday where modified rice was in the harvest stage. Some 400 BKU activists torched the crop, saying it would contaminate soil and affect the existing variety of rice. After the incident, BKU threatened to burn all such fields in the country where trials are underway.
The Rampura land, where the tests were on, had been leased by a farmer to Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Ltd (Mahyco), Monsanto’s seed partner in India. Mahyco-Monsanto was the first to release Bt cotton in India in 2002. Mahyco has been authorised by the Government’s Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) to undertake field trials for GM rice in the country.
Rakesh Tikait, BKU’s national spokesperson and son of BKU president Mahinder Singh Tikait, told The Indian Express that ‘‘such trials will be disastrous for the farmers as they will not only contaminate the soil, but also adversely affect yield from existing rice varieties’’.
‘‘On Friday, we got a tip-off from Hyderabad that such tests were underway in Karnal. So we decided to burn the harvest. We have also sent a team to Gorakhpur (UP) where similar trials are going on in a field. We are awaiting the report,’’ Tikait said.
Sources said that no complaint has been registered by the Karnal police so far.
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