Should we allow BT Brinjal to be used in our society?

Introduction of genetically modified food in India has been received with suspicion and restraint. There are many valid reasons for this.

Firstly, lack of understanding about the effects of Bt Brinjal. There is a lack of complete understanding among the people about the effects of growing or consuming bio-tech foods. There has been no comprehensive study done in this regard as to indicate what is the effect of the food within our body. The company which has introduced this product has done tests on rats for a duration of 90 days without any harmful effects and it claims this will be equivalent to approximately 20-21 years in human life. But many biologists argue that projected figure on human life can be wrong and should treated with a different set of parameters. So there is lack of complete research and tests on this kind of products.

Secondly, there is lack of trust in tests conducted by the research companies. The lack of trust comes from conflict of interest. This is because most of the people who are involved in the research of these new bio tech products are engaged by private partnerships with bio-tech companies. So there is no un-biased view in this matter. We can ask ourselves as How many bio-tech companies have not come in controversial cases? How many drug, pharmacheutical manufactures are not involved in the production of controversial and potentially fatal drugs?

Thirdly, the effects of the genetically modified(GM) foods on soil and environment are un-tested. What is the long term impact of these crops on the soil fertility? What is the impact on the environment? These things are never assessed by the companies and nor by the government. So a holistic analysis of these crops on society is required.

It's true that the introduction of Bt brinjal can help in tackling food shortage and help controlling food crisis by reducing increasing food production while bringing down the cost. But at the same time we should be careful in introducing such products only after doing a completely analysis of the crops. There have been suggestions of labeling food products in markets with their GM content and helping the consumer aware of it. Then we shouldn't rush to BT products without considering alternative solutions like increasing productivity of our lands, decreasing food wastage (which is around 40%) and effectively managing our supply chain. The govt has been good in being careful in introducing bt products and owning the confidence of public in general.