ICAR chief busts myths linked to GM mustard DMH-11; says its performance is being tested right now

Busting the myths associated with the GM mustard variant DMH-11, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Director General Himanshu Pathak on Friday made it clear that right now only its performance is being tested as per the ICAR guidelines.

The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), a regulatory body of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, had recommended the environmental release of the DMH-11 seed for trials, demonstrations and seed productions under the supervision of the ICAR in a meeting on October 18.

Dhara Mustard Hybrid (DMH-11) is a hybrid seed variety -- developed by the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants at the Delhi University -- that has stirred a storm between scientists, farmers and activists over its environmental release. The anti-GM group has knocked the doors of the Supreme Court.

Pathak, in a statement, said the GEAC has given permission for the environmental release to DMH 11 and its parental lines after experts' opinion, biosafety data examinations and long scientific deliberations.

However, it is more than a decade when this hybrid was evaluated. It is relevant to test its performance against the currently grown hybrids and varieties as check in the national trials under the All-India Coordinated Research Project on Rapeseed and Mustard as per ICAR guidelines, he said.

Biotech regulator GEAC has precisely recommended that DMH-11 will be released for commercial cultivation only if it is found significantly superior, he said.

However, certain group of people opposing the technology are unnecessarily dragging the discussion around yield advantages, he said.

''...no one claims that DMH 11, per se, will solve the problem of edible oil import. However, the commercial release of the hybrid DMH 11 is subject to its testing and performance against the present day used check varieties/hybrids in trials,'' Pathak said in a statement.

The environmental release of parental lines of DMH 11 will help the mustard breeders to deploy the robust and versatile genetically engineered Barnase/ Barstar system of hybrid seed production to develop new generation hybrids of mustard with greater yield advantages, he said.

''This will be a step forward in addressing the problem of low productivity in mustard and import of edible oil in future,'' he added.

Pathak also mentioned that many myths are being propagated about the approval of DMH 11 by the opponents of GM.

''All the national agencies and public research systems with expertise -- in the areas of agriculture, health including modern and ayurvedic science, environment and ecology -- are officially and formally involved in the risk assessment of the product for its being safe to humans, animals and environment,'' he said.

He also warned of administration action in the public interest if any opinion or article is published on the subject by anyone not authorised or former employees of the ICAR, which is different from the stated documentations and decisions made by the regulatory authorities functioning under the EPA (1986) and not endorsed by the Council.

Pathak, also secretary of Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), said rapeseed-mustard is an important oilseed crop in India grown on 9.17 million hectares with total production of 11.75 million tonnes (2021-22).

However, this crop suffers from low productivity (1,281 kilogram/hectare) compared to global average (2,000 kg/ha) and disruptive technological breakthrough is needed for enhancing productivity of oilseed crops in general and Indian mustard in particular in the country, he said.

Pathk said the genetically modified (GM) technology is a disruptive technology capable of bringing any targeted change within the crop variety to overcome a problem that is difficult or impossible to achieve that are also safe to humans, animals and environment.

''Thus, the GM technology has imminent potential for the much-needed revolution in Indian agriculture,'' he said, adding that it is important to look at the current scenario particularly in relation to domestic production, requirement and import of edible oils in the country.

According to ICAR DG, crossing of genetically diverse parents results in hybrids with increased yield and adaptation, a phenomenon known as hybrid vigourorheterosis, which has been widely exploited in crops like rice, maize, pearl millet, sunflower and many vegetables.

It has been convincingly demonstrated that hybrids in general show 20-25 per cent higher yield over the conventional varieties across the crops. Hybrid technology can play an important role in enhancing the productivity of rapeseed mustard in the country, he said.

Further, the hybrid seed production requires an efficient male sterility and fertility restoration system. The currently available conventional cytoplasmic-genetic male sterility system in mustard has limitations of breakdown of sterility under certain environmental conditions leading to lowering of seed purity.

As a consequence, the Ministry of Agriculture through Office Memorandum No. 15-13/2014-SD- IV reduced the usual purity standard of hybrid seeds of rapeseed and mustard from 95 to 85 per cent under section 6(9) of the Seeds Act, 1966 in 2014.

The genetically engineered barnase/barstar system provides an efficient and robust alternative method for hybrid seed production in mustard and it has been successfully deployed in countries like Canada, Australia and America for many decades.

In India, the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP), University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi has made a successful attempt with some alterations in the barnase/ barstar system, which culminated in the development of GM mustard hybrid MH11 which has undergone the required regulatory testing processes during 2008-2016, he said.

DMH-11 has been tested for three years against national check Varuna in confined field trials at multiple locations in India. The field trials were conducted to assess the impact on human health and the environment according to the stipulated guidelines and applicable rules. DMH-11 showed approximately 28 per cent more yield than the national check, he added.

Pathak said ICAR institutions and universities are deeply engaged in development of GM crops for different traits such as biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, yield and quality improvement in 13 crops since 2006.

Further, to take the leads obtained from earlier project forward, ICAR has initiated a network project on All India Coordinated Research Project on Biotech crops which has both research and third-party evaluation components for the targeted traits as well as biosafety studies of six crops during 2021-26 plan period with a total budget outlay of Rs 24.75 crore.

''Therefore, it is high time and purely in public interest for the welfare of farmers and consumers of India that the positivity created in minds of both experienced and young budding scientists about the research in the area of transgenic development by this landmark decision of the government to approve GM mustard is taken to logical conclusion,'' he stressed.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)