Trials and demonstrations for the recently approved genetically modified (GM) mustard crop may not happen this season after the Supreme Court of India November 10, 2022 adjourned the hearing in the case.
The SC was to hear the arguments of the respondents after green group Coalition For a GM Free India — a body of environmentalists, activists and farmers — knocked on its doors, opposing the nod to the genetically modified crop by the Centre.
State-run biotech regulator Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change approved the environmental release of the controversial GM mustard variety — DMH-11 — October 18.
The adjournment of the SC hearing, which will now happen November 17, 2022, puts the central government in a fix. It had planned to conduct the first sowing trials before the window ended.
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GEAC and Indian Council of Agriculture and Research (ICAR) could perform the sowing trials for GM mustard latest by November 15, PK Rai, director of ICAR-Directorate of Rapeseed Mustard Research (DRMR), Bharatpur, Rajasthan told Down To Earth November 4, 2022.
The trials were expected to begin at the ICAR-DRMR facility, which has a little over one kg of GM mustard in its possession for the trial. However, the pushing of the date of the hearing means missing the sowing of the mustard.
The mustard-growing season stretches from September until February, between Kharif and Rabi seasons. The delay in sowing will affect the trials and not yield the required results.
After the GEAC nod, the first sowing season is crucial for government agencies, as it would take at least three years of trials, demonstrations and other biosafety tests before the crop is approved for commercial release.
GM mustard would be the first food crop to be approved for human consumption. Before this, Bt cotton was the first crop to be greenlit in India.
The SC did not receive the complete set of documents demanded by it, said geneticist Deepak Pental, the former vice-chancellor of Delhi University who conceived DMH-11. “The court needed time to go through the submitted documents as a response regarding the opposition on the approval of GM mustard,” he said.
Rai November 10 afternoon told DTE that he had not received any directives to go ahead with the sowing for the trials.“So far, no written orders have been received from the top officials to conduct the trials. No sowing will be done and the situation will continue until fresh orders are received,” he said.
There was no change in the status until the news was published.