Completion of the trials would lead to commercial cultivation of Bt brinjal sometime in 2011. But even as OUAT scientists gear up for the field trials, anti-GM activists and farmers in the state are up in arms, saying it would bring doom to over 150 indigenous varieties of brinjal in the state. “We would gherao the agriculture minister and OUAT. If necessary, we would uproot Bt brinjal saplings,” says Debjeet Sarangi of Living Farms, an anti-GM group in Orissa, adding the state Government and institutions like OUAT could have refused the GEAC offer of field trial.

“If the state Government is not able to stop illegal cultivation of Bt cotton in the districts of Raygada, Bolangir and Kalahandi, how can it ensure that bio-safety protocols are followed for the cultivation of GM foodcrops like Bt brinjal?” asks Saroj Mohanty of Paschim Odisha Krushak Sangathan Samnwaya Samiti.

Kavita Kurugranti, another anti-GM activist, is upset about the fact that the GEAC is deciding on behalf of the state for the GM crop trial. “Agriculture is a state subject and agriculture universities like OUAT are under the respective state governments. So neither the Centre nor any Central body can force the state in matters of agriculture. The state’s concern should be for the local farmers and not the seed companies. Since all the data about Bt brinjal has been generated by Mahyco and has not been verified, the state Government should not allow the trial. I want the Orissa Government to stand up and say no to it,” she says.

... contd.