The Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) are once again pressing for approval of a new rice variety called Golden Rice and for Bt brinjal cultivation. Speakers at a meeting said the push to use genetically modified (GM) technology in the country's agriculture, and the way multinational companies are using agricultural research institutes in the name of science, are deeply worrying, and that the effort serves business rather than farmers or the country.

They were speaking on Monday, 6 May, at a discussion titled "GM crops Golden Rice and Bt brinjal: essential questions must be resolved before their return to Bangladesh" at the Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia Hall of the National Press Club. It was organised by BELA, UBINIG, the anti-GMO alliance, the Nayakrishi Andolon and Nagorik Uddyog.

Dr. M. A. Sobhan, president of the Seed Expansion Foundation, said interfering with nature brings retribution and that both Bt brinjal and Golden Rice are self-defeating, driven more by commerce than genetic science. Golden Rice was made by inserting a gene from maize into rice so that rice would contain vitamin A, he said, asking why people should not simply eat maize, which also yields more than rice. On Bt brinjal, which is said to resist the fruit and shoot borer, he asked what use it is if the plant dies from fungus before fruiting.

Farida Akhter, executive director of UBINIG, said in a written statement that the groups oppose genetic engineering of the country's two main crops, rice and vegetables, handing patents to foreign companies and approving cultivation despite environmental and health risks. She said the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation presents Golden Rice as a charitable source of nutrition against vitamin A deficiency and night blindness, but studies show vitamin A sources already exist in the diet, and questions on its health and environmental risks, effectiveness and need remain unanswered. She thanked the environment ministry for taking time to consider its safety and noted it has not been approved, while companies are pressing the government.

• Golden Rice is controversial worldwide; she said its approval in the Philippines has been cancelled and Filipino farmers have campaigned against it.
• Bt brinjal carries a crystal gene from the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) bacterium to resist the fruit and shoot borer; it was developed in 2005 by India's Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco) with help from Monsanto.
• India's environment ministry imposed a moratorium on Bt brinjal in 2010, and a Supreme Court-appointed panel recommended halting all GM field trials indefinitely. In the Philippines, a court ordered field trials stopped in 2013 on a petition by Greenpeace Southeast Asia. She said the developers turned to the Philippines after failing in India and then made Bangladesh their last attempt.

She called on the environment ministry's National Biosafety Committee and the health and agriculture ministries to examine the issues carefully. Ibnul Sayeed Rana of Nirapad Development Foundation, Badrul Alam of the Bangladesh Krishok Foundation and Zakir Hossain of Nagorik Uddyog were among those present.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.