Background
The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), India’s apex regulator of genetically modified plants and food products, has approved the environmental release of Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11), a genetically-engineered variant of mustard.
If approved for commercial cultivation it would be the first genetically modified food crop available to Indian farmers.
What is DMH-11?
DMH-11 is a hybrid variant of mustard developed by researchers at The Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants, at the University of Delhi. DMH-1, a hybrid variant that was developed without transgenic technology.
DMH-1 was approved for commercial release in northwest India in 2005-2006 but scientists have said that this technology wasn’t bankable enough to consistently produce hybrid mustard.
While India has several mustard varieties, it is a self-pollinating plant and therefore a challenge for plant-breeders to cross different mustard varieties and induce desirable traits.
Being able to turn off this self-pollinating trait to enable such crossings and then restoring the trait, to enable seed production, is how the mustard plant’s genes are to be manipulated.
DMH-11 is a result of a cross between two varieties: Varuna and Early Heera-2.
Such a cross wouldn’t have happened naturally and was done after introducing genes from two soil bacterium called barnase and barstar.
Barnase in Varuna induces a temporary sterility because of which it can’t naturally self-pollinate.
Barstar in Heera blocks the effect of barnase allowing seeds to be produced.
The result is DMH-11 (where 11 refers to the number of generations after which desirable traits manifest) that not only has better yield but is also fertile. DMH-11 is a transgenic crop because it uses foreign genes from a different species.
Are hybrid mustard varieties better?
Trials conducted over three years by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) suggest that DMH-11 has 28% higher yields than its parent Varuna and was 37% better than zonal checks, or local varieties that are considered the best in different agro-climatic zones.
DMH-11 rather than being an end in itself signals the proof of success of the barnase-barstar system that can act as a platform technology to develop newer hybrids.
Scientists say that having better hybrids is necessary to meet India’s rising edible-oil import bill.
Mustard (Brassica juncea) is cultivated in 6-7 million hectares during the Rabi winter season predominantly in Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. India imports anywhere from 55-60% of its domestic edible-oil requirement.
In 2020-21, around 13.3 million tonnes of edible oil were imported at a cost of ₹1,17,000 crore according to the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. This is primarily due to low productivity — of about 1-1.3 tonnes/hectare — that has been stagnant for over two decades.
On the other hand, hybrid mustard and rapeseed are the dominant form of oil seeds in Canada, China and Europe. So, proponents say, the only way to improve India’s productivity is to have more mustard hybrids.
Why is it controversial?
There are two main reasons why transgenic mustards are a topic of debate.
The use of genes that are foreign to the species is one and secondly, the preparation of mustard hybrids require the use of another gene, called the bar gene, that makes it tolerant to a herbicide called glufosinate-ammonium.
Activist groups allege that the GM mustard hasn’t been evaluated as a herbicide tolerant crop posing potential risks. Finally, they allege, GM mustard plants may dissuade bees from pollinating the plant and this could have knock-off environmental catastrophes.
What next for GM mustard?
This isn’t the first time that the GEAC has cleared the environmental release of GM mustard. In 2017 too, the apex body had cleared it but the process got stalled after a case was lodged in the Supreme Court.
The government, or specifically the Environment Ministry, hasn’t officially supported GM mustard despite the GEAC being a body under it.
Bt Brinjal, the first transgenic food crop, too was cleared by the GEAC in 2009 but was put on hold by the then-UPA government on the grounds that more tests were needed.
Currently the only transgenic crop grown in India is Bt-cotton.
The GEAC go-ahead only allows DMH-11 to be grown in fields under the supervision of the ICAR. The Indian Agricultural Research Institute has said that the crop would be commercially available after “three seasons” now that they can be grown in large quantities for evaluation.
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In a diverse country like India, where each State is socially, culturally, economically, and politically distinct, measuring Governance becomes increasingly tricky. The Public Affairs Index (PAI 2021) is a scientifically rigorous, data-based framework that measures the quality of governance at the Sub-national level and ranks the States and Union Territories (UTs) of India on a Composite Index (CI).
States are classified into two categories – Large and Small – using population as the criteria.
In PAI 2021, PAC defined three significant pillars that embody Governance – Growth, Equity, and Sustainability. Each of the three Pillars is circumscribed by five governance praxis Themes.
The themes include – Voice and Accountability, Government Effectiveness, Rule of Law, Regulatory Quality and Control of Corruption.
At the bottom of the pyramid, 43 component indicators are mapped to 14 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are relevant to the States and UTs.
This forms the foundation of the conceptual framework of PAI 2021. The choice of the 43 indicators that go into the calculation of the CI were dictated by the objective of uncovering the complexity and multidimensional character of development governance
The Equity Principle
The Equity Pillar of the PAI 2021 Index analyses the inclusiveness impact at the Sub-national level in the country; inclusiveness in terms of the welfare of a society that depends primarily on establishing that all people feel that they have a say in the governance and are not excluded from the mainstream policy framework.
This requires all individuals and communities, but particularly the most vulnerable, to have an opportunity to improve or maintain their wellbeing. This chapter of PAI 2021 reflects the performance of States and UTs during the pandemic and questions the governance infrastructure in the country, analysing the effectiveness of schemes and the general livelihood of the people in terms of Equity.
Growth and its Discontents
Growth in its multidimensional form encompasses the essence of access to and the availability and optimal utilisation of resources. By resources, PAI 2021 refer to human resources, infrastructure and the budgetary allocations. Capacity building of an economy cannot take place if all the key players of growth do not drive development. The multiplier effects of better health care, improved educational outcomes, increased capital accumulation and lower unemployment levels contribute magnificently in the growth and development of the States.
The Pursuit Of Sustainability
The Sustainability Pillar analyses the access to and usage of resources that has an impact on environment, economy and humankind. The Pillar subsumes two themes and uses seven indicators to measure the effectiveness of government efforts with regards to Sustainability.
The Curious Case Of The Delta
The Delta Analysis presents the results on the State performance on year-on-year improvement. The rankings are measured as the Delta value over the last five to 10 years of data available for 12 Key Development Indicators (KDI). In PAI 2021, 12 indicators across the three Pillars of Equity (five indicators), Growth (five indicators) and Sustainability (two indicators). These KDIs are the outcome indicators crucial to assess Human Development. The Performance in the Delta Analysis is then compared to the Overall PAI 2021 Index.
Key Findings:-
In the Scheme of Things
The Scheme Analysis adds an additional dimension to ranking of the States on their governance. It attempts to complement the Governance Model by trying to understand the developmental activities undertaken by State Governments in the form of schemes. It also tries to understand whether better performance of States in schemes reflect in better governance.
The Centrally Sponsored schemes that were analysed are National Health Mission (NHM), Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services scheme (ICDS), Mahatma Gandh National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SmSA) and MidDay Meal Scheme (MDMS).
National Health Mission (NHM)
INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES (ICDS)
MID- DAY MEAL SCHEME (MDMS)
SAMAGRA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN (SMSA)
MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE SCHEME (MGNREGS)