The Supreme Court is expected to hear this week the issue of genetically modified (GM) mustard variety DMH-11 in the country. It is expected that some important decision may come regarding its approval. On October 18 last year, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) had given permission for the field trial of DMH-11 and the responsibility was given to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
During the hearing in the Supreme Court, the government had assured to maintain the status quo, but before that ICAR had sown seeds for trials of this variety at six places, the data of which is with ICAR. Highly placed sources told Rural Voice, field trials revealed that the productivity level is at par with hybrid mustard varieties of private companies while the oil level in its seeds is better.
The above sources said that the level of productivity of GM variety DMCH-11 is equal to the hybrid variety of Pioneer Company. At the same time, it is better than that in terms of oil quantity.
ICAR has tested it at six places including Delhi, Bharatpur, Ludhiana, Banaras and Kota. The said source also informed that about 500 kg seeds of DMH-11 variety are available with the team of Dr. Deepak Pental, the scientist who developed this GM variety.
If the decision comes in favor of this mustard variety in the Supreme Court hearing on October 10, then enough seeds will be available for large trials across the country in the current Rabi season. The trial production of ICAR can be used as seeds. For mustard, one kg seeds are required per acre.
A senior scientist of ICAR says that if the technology using Barnase and Barstar genes for mustard is approved, then its advantage will be that apart from DMH-11 variety, it can also be used to develop Hybrid varieties of better productivity. For hybrid varieties, hybrid seeds can be produced from the parental line through AYR and AYB process.
The scientist says that at the time of approval of GM cotton, the production level of its hybrid varieties was not very good. Later BT technology was used in hybrid varieties with better productivity. 1500 varieties of BT cotton have been notified as hybrid varieties in the country. In such a situation, it is equally important to get the technology approved used for DMH-11.
Mustard plays an important role in the supply of edible oils in the country. But we have continuously failed to increase the productivity of mustard. Therefore, scientists are arguing that approving the production of GM mustard is a major measure to increase productivity. Dr. Deepak Paintal, former Vice Chancellor of Delhi University, had developed the GM mustard variety Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11), the commercial release of which has not been approved yet. The sub-committee had given its recommendations in favor of approval for commercial release of this type.
Dr. Pental has adopted Barnase-barstar technique for this GM variety. In this, the male is sterilized through barnase. Whereas male is activated in the second line through Barstar. The gene used in this process is known as BA gene. This GM event was patented in the US in 1991. Dr. Pental has made changes in it which scientists call 'tweaking'. He has also obtained its patent from America. Varuna variety of mustard has been used for this GM variety.
A member of the sub-committee formed before the GEAC approved this variety of GM mustard, told Rural Voice that better quality hybrid varieties are needed to increase the production of mustard. Hybrid varieties of many private companies are being sold in the market. But higher levels of productivity can be achieved only with the approval of GM varieties. Developing hybrid varieties of mustard in the traditional way is a very long and difficult process. Through GM technology it is possible to shorten this process.
India is not able to break the cycle of dependence on import of edible oils. In such a situation, after the approval of GM mustard, better GM varieties can increase oil production rapidly. Same thing happened in the case of cotton also. Through GM cotton, dependence on imports was eliminated and India also became a major cotton exporter. However, due to no new technology being approved, the benefits of the old technology have almost vanished and cotton production has started declining.