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Bio-safety norms violated
Statesman News Service
BHUBANESWAR, Jan. 7: While the member secretary of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee says permission has not been given for the trial or cultivation of GM crops anywhere in Orissa, the cultivation of Bt cotton, a genetically modified variety, is being undertaken with impunity, alleged Living Farms. This is a case of violation of bio-safety norms in the state, it said.
In a press release issued here, Mr Debjeet Sarangi alleged that despite GEAC’s stand against testing or growing of Bt cotton and Bt crops in Orissa, it is being cultivated at Jugimunda panchayat in Patnagarh block of Bolangir. Bt cotton seeds are also being sold in the area in brandless packets to escape detection, he charged. A seed company has allegedly given wrong information on its packets, he added. Despite the fact that state agriculture minister Mr SN Nayak opposes GM crop cultivation, how are some seed companies conducting field trials of Bt cotton, Mr Sarangi wondered. Mentioning that the prime reason behind suicide of many farmers in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharastra is Bt cotton and its ill-effects, Mr Sarangi charged that the farmers of Orissa are being taken for a ride.
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