GM Food : India Dlm Dilemma. Antara Krisis Makanan & Kesan Kepada Manusia.

NIXAR

February 9, 2010
India awaits go-ahead on first GM crop despite scientists’ warnings


A Greenpeace activist dressed as an aubergine protests against Bt brinjal

India will decide tomorrow whether to approve its first genetically modified (GM) food crop. It is a move that supporters argue will help to avert a global food crisis but which critics say is being rushed through recklessly.

The new vegetable, an aubergine — or brinjal in Hindi — contains a toxic gene that poisons insect pests and will boost yields while reducing dependence on pesticides, its champions say. It would also open up the world’s second most-populous nation to at least 56 other GM crops that are in the final stages of development.

Scientists have warned that not enough is known about the effects of the new variety on human beings and the environment. Long-term toxicity and the risk of dangerous mutations have not been ruled out, they say.

The country’s rural masses, about 800 million of whom depend on the land for a living, are angry at the prospect of relying on overseas suppliers for expensive new seeds.

The new aubergine was created by inserting the gene Cry1Ac, from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringenesis, or Bt. The resulting variety, called Bt brinjal, contains a toxic protein that will kill the fruit and shoot borer, a big pest, according to its creator, Mahyco, an Indian partner of the American GM giant Monsanto.

Mahyco claims that Bt brinjal is safe for human beings because the toxin is broken down during cooking and, even if it is eaten raw, the poison is deactivated by acid in the gut. Scientists say that key safety tests have not been conducted, including screening for toxicity that may build up after Bt brinjal is eaten over a long period, and for dangerous mutations.

“This is potentially very dangerous,” said Pushpa Bhargava, of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), India’s GM regulator. “Once you release a GM crop, you can’t recall it.” He told The Times that the safety data on Bt brinjal presented to the GEAC was “unacceptable and incomplete” — partly because most of it was supplied by Mahyco.

He was outvoted when the committee, which included several scientists with ties to Mahyco, approved the new crop in October.

Jairam Ramesh, the Environment and Forests Minister, who will make the final decision on whether to approve Bt brinjal, has admitted that whichever course he chooses will be controversial. Over the past few weeks he has travelled the country, canvassing public opinion at meetings that have often been disrupted by protests.

GM companies argue that, without their techniques, the world has no chance of doubling agricultural output by 2050, as many experts believe that it must. Such concerns are high in the minds of politicians in India: after the weakest monsoon rains in nearly four decades the cost of staple foods has soared by nearly 20 per cent in the past year, hitting the poor hardest.

With population growth outpacing agricultural output, experts say that food security will remain elusive unless India achieves a second “green revolution” — the advance in agricultural methods that allowed it to banish famine in the 1960s and 1970s through the introduction of new rice varieties, pesticides and fertilisers. Around the world there are concerns that food prices have remained stubbornly high after a sharp increase in 2008.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the combined effects of high food prices and the global economic meltdown have pushed more than 100 million people into poverty and hunger. Although international prices have fallen from their record highs in 2008, they have yet to drop to their levels before the food crisis. Average food prices last May were about 24 per cent higher than they were in 2006, according to the FAO.

After the first green revolution left vast swaths of land barren through overuse of fertilisers, Indian farmers are sceptical that GM crops hold the solution. Balbir Singh Billing, a farmers’ union leader, said: “By controlling the seeds these [GM companies] will control Indian agriculture and the entire food system.

“These are the same companies that introduced fertilisers and pesticides, suggesting that we could not do without them. Now, because of the consequent ill effects, the same companies want to introduce GM foods.”

Kishor Tiwani, an activist, alleges that the introduction of GM cotton — the only GM crop permitted in India — has let farmers down. He claims that more than three million hectares of GM cotton failed in the western state of Maharashtra last year, contributing to scores of farmer suicides.

Seeds of change

4,000 years of aubergine cultivation in India

500,000 hectares of land under aubergine cultivation

80% potential reduction in pesticide use with genetically modified crops

258 tonnes of Indian aubergines imported a year by Britain

25% damage to crops from pests each year worldwide

84% of India’s cotton is GM

Source: Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, India

NIXAR

antara krisis makanan dan kesan makanan yg diubah secara genetik terhadap manusia yg mana akan jadi pilihan manusia?

RedDevils

Lawalah costume brinjal tu...
Aku nak satu...mesti anak aku suka..

RedDevils

antara krisis makanan dan kesan makanan yg diubah secara genetik terhadap manusia yg mana akan jadi pilihan manusia?
NIXAR Post at 9-2-2010 11:57

kalau keadaan mendesak, genetically modified foods akan menjadi sumber utama akhirnya.

NIXAR

anak hang ka hang?

NIXAR

kalau keadaan mendesak, genetically modified foods akan menjadi sumber utama akhirnya.
RedDevils Post at 9-2-2010 11:59 AM

dilemma tu, makanan yg dihasilkan dgn cara GM ni mmg akan bantu minimakan krisis makanan dgn hasil yg berkali ganda dan dpt turunkan harga makanan tapi kita x tau kesannya pulak. pilihannya antara nak pilih madu atau madu yg akan jadi racun kemudiannya.

dlm keadaan lain pulak pembekal benih2 GM ni akan monopoli la nampak gayanya.

anya8797

sekarang pun dah ada genetically modified food kat sini...yang seedless guava tu...yang tu pun genetically modified jugak kan.... tapi anya makan sedap saje..... krup krap bunyinya....

RedDevils

anak hang ka hang?
NIXAR Post at 9-2-2010 11:59

aku pakailah costume tu, jadik badut utk anak aku..

RedDevils

dilemma tu, makanan yg dihasilkan dgn cara GM ni mmg akan bantu minimakan krisis makanan dgn hasil yg berkali ganda dan dpt turunkan harga makanan tapi kita x tau kesannya pulak. pilihannya antara ...
NIXAR Post at 9-2-2010 12:02

aku rasa, GM punya food ni kita boleh control byk benda, termasuklah penggunaan pesticides...
so, sepatutnya ianya sama aja/or lebih healthy dari sumber makanan secara natural.

NIXAR

sekarang pun dah ada genetically modified food kat sini...yang seedless guava tu...yang tu pun genetically modified jugak kan.... tapi anya makan sedap saje..... krup krap bunyinya....
anya8797 Post at 9-2-2010 12:03 PM

mmg dah ade kat pasaran. x dinafikan. cuma kesan jangka panjang mcm mana pulak? di Bulgaria GM food baru saja diharamkan utk jangka masa selama 5 tahun.

NIXAR

aku rasa, GM punya food ni kita boleh control byk benda, termasuklah penggunaan pesticides...
so, sepatutnya ianya sama aja/or lebih healthy dari sumber makanan secara natural.
RedDevils Post at 9-2-2010 12:05 PM

makanan organik pulak lebih bagus dan sihat tapi mahal. x ramai org boleh beli makanan organik.

NIXAR

aku pakailah costume tu, jadik badut utk anak aku..
RedDevils Post at 9-2-2010 12:03 PM

bleh jugak la tue. jgn berebut dgn anak sudah.

dino

bukan ke slama ni kite makan ayam yg dimodified spy jd gemuk gituh....
btw byk nye india ni makan terung

RedDevils

bukan ke slama ni kite makan ayam yg dimodified spy jd gemuk gituh....
btw byk nye india ni makan terung
dino Post at 9-2-2010 12:11

ayam yg di inject kasik gumuk tu, bukan nya dlm kategori genetically modified..

Kat India, depa suka campur terung dlm masakan kari kot..

NIXAR

erk....tu ayam gumuk daging tu ka?

apala dino....hang x penah makan dalca ka....berlambak terung dlm tu.

RedDevils

mmg dah ade kat pasaran. x dinafikan. cuma kesan jangka panjang mcm mana pulak? di Bulgaria GM food baru saja diharamkan utk jangka masa selama 5 tahun.
NIXAR Post at 9-2-2010 12:06

apa seba utama pengharaman tu

dino

ayam yg di inject kasik gumuk tu, bukan nya dlm kategori genetically modified..

Kat India, depa suka campur terung dlm masakan kari kot..
RedDevils Post at 9-2-2010 12:14

ooo gitu ka.... ingat ade kaitan muahahhh

dino

erk....tu ayam gumuk daging tu ka?

apala dino....hang x penah makan dalca ka....berlambak terung dlm tu.
NIXAR Post at 9-2-2010 12:14

takkan la balun terung hari2.....

NIXAR

apa seba utama pengharaman tu
RedDevils Post at 9-2-2010 12:14 PM

ops silap baca baru cadangan....ni beritanya.

Five-year ban on GM foods proposed in Bulgaria

Following the wave of protests against a bill of amendments that would allow genetically-modified organisms (GMO) to be grown in Bulgaria, the country's ruling party will now propose a five-year ban on all genetically-modified cultures in the country, it emerged on February 5 2010.

The ban would affect all crops and the entire country, Environment Minister Nona Karadjova said. Now, there is a ban on some crops in parts of the country, she said.

The measure was a compromise, Karadjova said, between the strong public opposition to GMOs and the European Union regulations, which preclude an outright ban on laboratory and commercial cultivation.

The initial amendments, which were passed at first reading by Parliament, allowed cultivation of genetically-modified tobacco, vines, cotton, rose, wheat and vegetables. The bill did not allow cultivation in areas protected under the EU's Natura 2000 programme, but lowered the minimum distance from protected areas at which such crops could be cultivated.

About 300 people protested in the centre of Sofia against proposed amendments to the Genetically Modified Foods Act (GMFA) on January 31 2010.

Protests were held in front of the National Library, under the motto "Clean food, a healthy earth! Bulgaria GM foods free." Later, protesters marched to the buildings of Bulgarian National Television and the Bulgarian Parliament.

The protesters demanded any decision on loosening GM foods restrictions to be postponed until a wider public debate on the topic had been held.


Source: sofiaecho.com

Publication date: 2/8/2010

NIXAR

takkan la balun terung hari2.....
dino Post at 9-2-2010 12:16 PM

terung sedap tapi org tua2 x bagi pompuan makan terung banyak sgt.