NEW DELHI: Contrary to the Centre’s stand on making India self-sufficient in edible oil production through rapid cultivation of the controversial genetically modified (GM) mustard variety, the government’s own study shows that the GM crop has no yield benefits over traditional hybrid varieties.
The documents also reveal that the government neither tested the impact of GM mustard on honey bees and other pollinators, nor did it have any expert in its committee to assess the crop’s fallout on health. The Centre on Thursday submitted documents related to field trials of GM mustard seeds — Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 or DMH-11 — to the Supreme Court. The report shows that the yield of a non-GM hybrid variety is actually marginally higher than the GM one.
The non-GM hybrid DMH-1 yielded 2,195 kg per hectare, which was 0.09% more than the GM DMH-11 variety. In oil yield, DMH-1’s output was a kg more than DMH-11’s 837 kg per hectare. Another popular non-GM hybrid variety produced 24 kg more oil than DMH-11. It has long been argued that the GM technology could have unintended health impact on humans and other living beings. However, the documents show no health expert was part of the committee that monitored the trials. As for the failure to do systematic trials on honeybees and pollinators, the panel said they couldn’t be done due to time constraints.