At the crossroads

India, like the EU, is cautiously debating the adoption of genetically modified crops amidst global pressures, weighing potential benefits against long-term health and environmental risks

- SHOVANLAL CHAKRABORTY

The history of agricultural growth tells us that the world has witnessed three 'Green Revolutions' so far. The first started in the 1930s in Europe and North America. It brought quick yield increases in maize and other temperate-climate crops with increased, intensified and effective use of fertilisers, pesticides, crop species, machinery and farm management. The second one took place in the 1960s and 1970s, including in some Indian states, and it passed almost the same technologies to the developing world and crops grown in the tropics. Of course, these technologies were customized to suit local conditions by using local applied research and extension networks. Genetically modified (GM) products, especially the seeds produced by using genetic engineering in agriculture, appeared in the 1970s and were commercialized in the 1990s, mainly in North America. Advocates of this technology claim that it would result in another enormous increase in agronomic productivity and provide qualitative improvements in the food supply.

The big difference between the first two Green Revolutions and the third one is that the latter has not been received with conclusive inquisitiveness. There is persisting scepticism about the long-run negative effects of GM technology on human, animal and plant health.