MOVE FOR GM BANANA STRONGLY OPPOSED

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I found this news  "interesting” and hence posting for perusal of All

SudhirMishra /Pioneer/Balangir

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MOVE FOR GM BANANA STRONGLY OPPOSED

Monday, 06 May 2013 | Ubachak Mohanty | BALESWAR | in Bhubaneswar

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The Navdanya Odisha, an international NGO working for agriculture and environment issues, has objected to the Central Government’s decision for production of genetically-modified banana in India.

Navdanya State coordinator Kusum Panigrahi on Friday told reporters here, “In India, we have a hundred varieties of banana being cultivated  with about six to eight varieties like Patakapura, Champa, Bantala, Batisha and Dakhinsagar being very popular. Each of them has certain unique quality. Once a genetically-modified variety is introduced, the precious banana diversity will vanish forever .It is so because of the horizontal gene transfer mechanism widely prevalent in the plant kingdom. This is the reason the Indian farmers rejected Bt Brinjal at all the 14 public hearings.”

Panigrahi said the Government of India’s Biotechnology Department has executed an agreement with the Queensland University, Australia to produce and supply genetically-modified banana with the intention that it would be cultivated in India sometime after 10 years which would remove anemia from among the Indians. For the purpose, the   department would pay a sum of Rs 15 crore to the university.

A scientist, Dr Dale, who would carry out the mission, has already received a huge sum from the Bill Gates Foundation for the purpose. However, Dr Dale has not a single publication with regard to fortification in banana, she said.

On the other hand, Panigrahi said, the scientists of the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre have already published articles on the topic claiming the ability to produce six-fold increase in iron content in banana, but this has been overlooked. The money in question is Indian tax payers, she remarked.

A research scientist with the Navdanya, Dr Ashok Panigrahi, pleaded ‘no’ for genetically-modified banana stating that it would destroy the indigenous one. “Why to have this when the nature has given us several other alternatives for consumption much richer than this variety of banana? Nature has given us a cornucopia of biodiversity, rich in nutrients. Malnutrition and nutrient deficiency result from destruction of biodiversity, and with it rich sources of nutrition,” he said.

Kusum Panigrahi said, “The Green Revolution has spread monocultures of chemical rice, wheat and vegetables, driving out biodiversity from our farms and diets. And what survived as spontaneous crops like the amaranth greens and Chenopodium (Bathua) which are rich in iron were sprayed with poisonous herbicides and destroyed. Instead of being seen as iron-rich and vitamin-rich gifts, they were treated as ‘weeds’. Many of our iron-rich foods are fast becoming forgotten foods.”

It is estimated that 2 billion people worldwide are iron-deficient, including 1 billion who have iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) In India. Iron is necessary for many vital functions in the body including formation of hemoglobin, brain development and function, regulation of body temperature, muscle activity and catecholamine metabolism.

Lack of iron directly affects the immune system, diminishes the number of T-cells and the production of antibodies. Deficiency of iron in diet leads to IDA. Iron deficiency in pregnant women is a major cause of maternal mortality and childbirth-related deaths, she further informed