Kerala House resolution against GM mustard

The Kerala Assembly on Friday passed a resolution urging the Centre not to implement the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee’s recommendation for the commercial use of GM mustard. Agriculture minister V S Sunil Kumar moved the resolution, which comes as the state is promoting organic farming. He said that the recommendation was against agriculture and farmers.

The resolution said that as oil is crucial for ayurvedic medicine, oil from genetically-modified crops will affect efficacy of medicines. It added that with the emergence of GM crops, farmers would be denied their right to store, exchange and use the seeds. The resolution said that GM crops are yet to be proved as high-yielding, but are vulnerable to attack from new varieties of insects.