The Indian government remains undecided on genetically engineered (GE) crops and products derived from biotechnology due to legal and political challenges, according to a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) report.
India has banned the import of all GE products, apart from soyabean and canola oil derived from GE soyabean and canola, and a temporary approval in August 2021 of 1.2M tonnes soyabean meal derived from GE soyabeans – initially allowed until 31 October 2021 but then extended to 30 September 2022, the 25 December report said. The imports were allowed as a one-time relief measure for domestic livestock/poultry growers impacted by a spike in soyabean meal prices, said the ‘India: Biotechnology and Other New Production Technologies’ report published in December.
India imports significant quantities of soybean oil – 4.15M tonnes in 2024, mainly from Argentina (2.34M tonnes) and Brazil (0.74M tonnes).
Despite the regulatory clearance for a locally developed GE mustard event in October 2022, a decision was pending clearance from the Supreme Court of India in an ongoing case challenging India’s Biotech Regulatory System since 2004.
On 23 July 2024, the Supreme Court bench directed the Indian government to evolve a national policy on genetically modified (GM) crops covering research, cultivation, trade and commerce in the country, by conducting a national consultation with stakeholders.
Although the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) had received applications for the import of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), soyabean meals and processed food products with GE or GE derived components, approval of these products had stalled as the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was still working on regulations and infrastructure, and there was confusion about the regulatory responsibilities of GEAC and FSSAI, the report said.
Indian seed companies and public sector research institutions were at various stages of GE crop research and development. Over 85 plant species were being developed for traits like pest resistance, herbicide tolerance, abiotic stress tolerance, nutritional enhancement and nutritional, medicinal or metabolic phenotypes.
The GE crops developed by public sector institutions included bananas, cabbage, cassava, cauliflower, chickpeas, cotton, eggplant, rapeseed/mustard, papayas, peanuts, pigeon peas, potatoes, rice, sorghum, sugarcane, tomatoes, watermelon and wheat.
Private seed companies focus on crops like cabbage, cauliflower, chickpeas, corn, cotton, mustard/rapeseed, okra, pigeon peas, rice and tomatoes, according to the report.
However, policy uncertainty and delays in the regulatory approval system continued to constrain the advancement of GE crop research to the product development/release stage, the report said.
According to the report, public opinion about biotechnology and GE crops in India is generally ambivalent as anti-biotech groups’ political pressure and media campaign continues to hamper the regulatory environment and confuse the general public.
“Several anti-biotech environmental, farmer, and consumer groups, often supported by Greenpeace and other international affiliates, run … campaigns against GE crops and products in India on biosafety concerns for consumers and fears of seed monopolies by multinational companies impacting Indian farmers,” the USDA said.
Meanwhile, leading seed and agricultural technology companies (mostly multinational corporations) operating in India had formed the Alliance for Agri-Innovation (AAI), to promote new and emerging agricultural technologies, including agricultural biotechnologies and other plant breeding innovations for Indian farmers, the report said.
“Due to the tight domestic supplies of animal feeds and fodders, most livestock and poultry industry groups are increasingly voicing the need for imports of GE-derived animal feeds and fodders.”
However, most agricultural biotechnology companies, local and multinational were curtailing their biotech crop development programmes due to the ongoing policy uncertainty in regulatory approvals, the USDA said.
