Many states within India are opposing the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill, which would set up an independent authority–the BRAI–to regulate genetically modified crops.
Dr. S R Dhua, adviser in genetic conservation to the Odisha state government, says that “there is no scientific basis” for opposition to the bill, in an interview with the Times of India. He says that a crop cannot be harmful just because it was genetically modified, and that “opposing GM crops and BRAI in totality will mean denying the scope of increasing yield.”
The opposition in some states, including Odisha, is related to “the question of states’ rights” over making decisions to allow GMOs in their own territory, Dhua says. The proposed bill would give sweeping regulatory powers to the BRAI.
Read the full, original story: ‘A crop does not become harmful after it is genetically modified’
