Over the top

The multitude of other issues aside (such as, Do people really like brinjal/ aubergine/eggplant that much in the first place? Ok, the USD 2 billion annual sales in India alone notwithstanding) it was heartening to see the proudly temporary end to the debate over biotech (Bt) brinjal in India come about with such right-headed vacillation. “If you need long-term toxicity tests,” said much-pilloried pointman Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, “then you must do it, no matter how long it takes.” Seemingly simple enough, and Ramesh had more common-sense wisdom: “There is no [freaking] hurry. [Not one of you idiots can point to any] … overriding urgency or food-security argument for [releasing] Bt brinjal [– and you know it].” (Additions by the writer.)

This kind of slow, steady decision-making, with an eye firmly on the long term and the safety (in every sense of the word) of the populace, is exactly what how government needs to engage on highly complex issues such as those surrounding the use of biotechnology in food products. (Most importantly, the new variety of brinjal is aimed at making it less tasty for the bugs that routinely ravage Indian crops.) And although Ramesh has been roundly criticised since his 9 February announcement that New Delhi was overruling a panel that had dubbed Bt brinjal safe for human consumption, the fact of the matter is that his ministry’s reasoning should also have been (at least this writer hopes) taken as a subtle rap on the knuckles to some of the overly strident anti-biotech activism that has bubbled around brinjal and cotton in the past. Far from the idea that Ramesh is purportedly being ideological in his decision-making – rejecting biotech because it is a ‘Western’ import – the fact of the matter is that the minister is keeping the door wide open for a subsequent re-appraisal of the issue.

And while the anti-biotech activists’ warning against predatory corporations and their potential future cornering of India’s endlessly lucrative seed market are not only warranted but a critical element of future decision-making, they are not the sole criteria for that process. Indeed, the longstanding complaint that enough long-term testing simply has not been possible on biotech foodstuffs remains the single most important element in that discussion – and is precisely what Ramesh is now giving voice to. Should the minister’s “long-term toxicity tests” ultimately come back with a clean chit for Bt brinjal, or anything else, it will be interesting to see how the activist line changes. After all, human tinkering with nature, while potentially frightening, has also given the world such stable ‘inventions’ as the delicious apple, the beautiful tulip and, well, the whole of agriculture and its subsequent impact on human civilisation’s ability to relax and dream a bit.

Meanwhile, the most worrying of criticism of Ramesh’s announcement has come from the scientific community. Whether this is due to indignation that the findings of the scientific committee that gave the green light to Bt brinjal’s safety have now been semi-rejected, or whether this response can be explained by the circulating rumours of hidden interest, is unclear. Either way, however, the sanctity of scientific rigour is exactly what is being upheld by this decision: there is no scientist around who can honestly say that, in the decades since biotechnology has been used on foodstuffs, there has been adequate time to say, with acceptable scientific surety, that any biotech crop is safe for widespread human use and pervasive contact with the natural world. As such, any scientist that claims to be outraged by Ramesh’s even-keeled response – that’s you, Sajiv Anand, director of the All India Crop Biotechnology Association – is not being true to his or her scientific groundings.

Of course, governments around the world are regularly denounced for not having the backbone to make difficult decisions, and hence pushing them down the road for another government to deal with. Thus, it will be similarly important to make sure that this Ramesh-style vacillation is indeed only temporary. Eventually, the time may well come that the introduction of certain biotech foods will be generally agreed-upon as a positive move, and perhaps will be hailed as a true – rather than hoped-for – victory of humankind. But until then, leave the brinjal, a native plant to the Subcontinent, along with its dozens of smallish, uniquely formed, bug-ridden, rather tasteless varieties, alone.

– Carey L Biron