GM crops threat to environment
Say experts
Environmentalists have expressed deep concern over the genetically modified (GM) crops now cultivated in the country fearing environmental disaster as such GM crops could change the genetic characters of indigenous species of crops and plants.
They urged the authorities concerned to remain alert about genetically modified crops, which can cause wide variety of health problems, including accelerated aging, immune dysfunction, insulin disorders, organ damage and reproductive disruption.
“We're very scared about the genetically modified foods and the main reason is uncertainty. As we don't know how much harm these foods can cause for us,” said Abu Naser Khan, chairman of Paribesh Bachao Andolon (save environment movement).
Talking to the news agency, he said the genetically modified foods could destroy not only the nature but also the humanity. “Such foods are produced with the use of various harmful chemicals.”
Abu Naser Khan said indigenous species of crops should be produced more to meet the increasing food demands. “We'll have to emphasise on producing selected high-yielding breeds of paddy to produce more crops.”
Referring to the recent warning by the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, Dr Mohammed Ataur Rahman, Director, Centre for Global Environmental Culture (CGEC) and Program on Education for Sustainability of IUBAT, said the public should avoid genetically modified foods, as there is “more than a casual association between such foods and adverse health effects.”
He mentioned a large number of studies and incidents have implicated genetically modified foods in a wide variety of health problems, including accelerated aging, immune dysfunction, insulin disorders, organ damage and reproductive disruption.
Dr Rahman said researchers have found black patches in livers and intestines of dead animals fed on genetically modified crops and plants as well as signs of internal bleeding and poisoning.
“Farm workers in India have begun developing allergic reactions upon handling corn, similar to the effects experienced by people exposed to chemical spraying.”
Mentioning the biotech industry's claims, he mentioned Bt-toxin is harmless to humans and mammals because the natural bacteria version has been used as a spray by farmers for years.
Dr Rahman said if genetically modified foods available in the market are causing common diseases or if their effects appear only after long-term exposure, “we may not be able to identify the source of the problem for decades, if at all.”
There is no monitoring of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)-related problems and no long-term animal studies. Heavily invested biotech corporations are gambling away the health of nations for profit, he added.
Quoting a recent story on GM in India, Dr Rahman mentioned that GM cotton was approved for cultivation in India in 2002, and now covers 80 percent of the country's cotton farmlands.
In October 2009, the country's Genetic Engineering Approval Committee gave the nod for the planting of a GM eggplant produced by Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co. in partnership with Monsanto. “The brinjal-variety eggplant had been engineered with genes from the bacteria, Bacillus thuringniensis (Bt), to produce pesticide in its tissues.”
The approval of the country's first GM food crop sparked uproar among farmers, environmentalists, health advocates and other GM critics across India.
Critics objected to the unknown health effects of consuming or working near GM foods, as well as the risks that the plants could produce “genetic pollution” by crossing with non-GM varieties.
Farmers also object to the fact that GM seeds not only cost roughly three times as much as unmodified seeds, but must also be purchased each year from the company rather than saved from prior harvests, as farmers have traditionally done in the region.
GMOs are a great concern for the loss of genetic diversity within and among the species. For a species or a variety, environmental adaptation play vital role in heredity and for survivability. It needs hundreds of years for adaptation of a character.
Neglecting adaptation, sudden change of heredity characters is spoiling the generations and hundreds of examples are in the world. “We can cite examples of chicken, fish and many other crops which are highly external inputs-dependent and susceptible to diseases. Thus indiscriminate uses of pesticides pollute the environments and kill micro flora and insect pollinators like bees,” Dr Ataur Rahman said.
More than 50 percent fruit crops are pollinated by insect agents and they are vulnerable to destruction. So, the government should not allow GMOs for the greater interest of the health and environment, he cautioned.
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