The Rubber Board plans to soon approach the Maharashtra Government to hold field trials of genetically-modified (GM) rubber.
“The Kerala Government is in-principle opposed to GM crops. Therefore, we plan to approach the Maharashtra Government, to allocate a plot for us for planting GM rubber,” said Mr Toms Joseph, Deputy Director (Economic Research) of the Rubber Board. The Kerala Agriculture Minister, Mr Mullakara Ratnakaran, a couple of months back wrote a letter to the Union Environment and Forests Minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh, opposing the clearance given by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) for field trials.
His opposition was on the grounds that it would have an adverse effect on the ecosystem.
In his reply, Mr Ramesh said that without field trials, it would not be possible to ascertain any adverse effects to the ecosystem from GM rubber.
The Rubber Board has been given the go-ahead to hold field trials by the GEAC.
“We have been told that the permission has been given and we are waiting for the letter,” said Mr Joseph on the sidelines of the India Rubber Expo 2011.
The GM rubber plant, in which MnSOD gene, taken from rubber tree itself has been incorporated, is resistant to drought and stress.
Suitable place
It can withstand higher temperatures and can be introduced in Maharashtra where the temperature is higher than in Kerala that accounts for over 95 per cent of natural rubber grown in the country.
“The yield and other characteristics will be clear during the field trial,” Mr Joseph said. The development of GM rubber is significant in the wake of weather change affecting rubber production.
During the current fiscal, rubber production was estimated to increase to 8.93 lakh tonnes (lt) from 8.31 lt last year.
However, with weather playing truant during September-October, it has been pruned to 8.51 lt.
(Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2011/01/24/stories/2011012450661300.htm)
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