Scientists: No to Genetically Modified Crops, Yes to
Paradigm Shift
Scientists say India should not believe false promises of
genetically modified crops
- Common Dreams
staff
Published on Tuesday, September 25, 2012 by Common Dreams
Published on Tuesday, September 25, 2012 by Common Dreams
A group of
scientists said that ecological farming and a shift towards a holistic
paradigm, not genetically modified (GM) crops, are the answer for India's
future agricultural needs.
(photo: gmarinich via Flickr) The scientists made their
statements in New Delhi at a media briefing organized by Aruna Rodrigues, lead
petitioner in a public interest litigation seeking a moratorium on GM testing
in India, the Times of India reports.
Prof. Hans
Herren, Co-Chair of IAASTD, the International Assessment of Agricultural
Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development, who was awarded the World
Food Prize in 1995, said, "What we really need is a shift in paradigm,
where a holistic approach drives our interventions in agriculture without
reductionist solutions hogging the center-stage and taking away precious
resources."
Professor Jack
Heinemann from the School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury,
pointed out the failure of GM crops to address food insecurity. "Only two
countries in the world, both in South America, grow GM on more than 40% of
their agricultural land and both are suffering from an increased food
insecurity. Most of their poor neighbors that have not adopted GM have
improving food security statistics," he said.
This point was
echoed by Dr. Doug Gurian-Sherman of the Union of Concerned Scientists, who
cited his group's studies showing that conventional farming outperformed GM
farming.
Dr. Walter
Goldstein of the Wisconsin-based Mandaamin Institute emphasized not only the
failure in the U.S. of GM crops to outperform conventional crops but also the
high price farmers pay when they choose GM seeds. "The path of adopting
widespread use of high-tech GMO technology in the USA has been accompanied by
greater consolidation of resources and power for few seed companies, higher
seed prices, greater risk for farmers and less choice in varieties with hardly
any increase in productivity."
No comments:
Post a Comment