The case of genetically modified (GM) mustard in India has reached the Supreme Court. The government has said it will bow to the court's eventual ruling. That ruling could green-light GM mustard as first commercial GM food crop. If this goes ahead, there will be wide-ranging, devastating implications for Indian food and agriculture.

The protest organised by the satyagraha against GM Mustard at Jantar Mantar on October 25 was much more than an ordinary dharna. On the one hand representatives of the Opposition parties like the Congress, CPI-M, CPI and AAP lashed out at the support extended by the Modi Government to GM crops whose serious hazards are well-established. On the other hand there were also representatives of organisations like the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM) which are a part of the Sangh Parivar and yet have firmly opposed the pro-GM crop stand of the BJP-led government and more particularly its efforts to introduce the GM Mustard crop.

Suman Sahai, founder, Gene Campaign talks about why the GM technology is outdated

The fact that genetically modified (GM) technology is dangerous, irrevocable, unpredictable and uncontainable had mobilised an unprecedented gathering of representatives of 57 unions of farmers, an association of five lakh beekeepers, 150 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and representatives of diverse political parties to declare a ‘Sarson Satyagraha’ on 25 October 2016 in Delhi. They were opposing the attempt to push through genetically modified - GM - mustard by India’s Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC). They all knew that once a GM crop is introduced, the flow of pollen by wind and insects, the mixing of seeds and a variety of corporate marketing strategies would ensure that non-GM mustard is virtually wiped out.

Genetically modified sarson, developed by Delhi University scientists, is not quite the safe, high-yield manna for farmers the government is making it out to be

Genetically modified sarson, developed by Delhi University scientists, is not quite the safe, high-yield manna for farmers the government is making it out to be

The case of genetically modified (GM) mustard in India has reached the Supreme Court. The government has said it will bow to the court’s eventual ruling. That ruling could green-light GM mustard as first commercial GM food crop. If this goes ahead, there will be wide-ranging implications for Indian food and agriculture.

Genetically modified mustard, if approved, will be the first such food crop to be commercially released in India. This will open the floodgates for other such crops making India one of the largest users of genetically modified crops in the world in the next 10 to 12 years. Given that its agriculture is largely in the hands of multinational seed and agrochemical companies, India will end up bartering its freedom for the benefit of a few and the misery of the rest.

Opposing vehemently genetically modified (GM) food crops, the Rajasthan government today said "no and never" for commercial cultivation of yet to be approved GM mustard crop saying agriculture is the state subject and it has every right to decide what crop to grow.

In 2006, Monmohan Singh, the then-prime minister of India, made a deal with George W. Bush to open India's agriculture sector to U.S. agribusiness interests. The Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture was a quid pro quo agreement related to the U.S. sanctioning and facilitating the development of India's civil nuclear sector.