Bangalore based Environment Support Group (ESG India) an NGO has alerted the National Biodiversity Authority of India (NBA) on seed firms Mahyco and Monsanto alleged violation of the biodiversity protection law in promoting Bt Brinjal. ESG has recommended legal action against the two seed firms and has filed a complaint with the Karnataka Biodiversity Board.
The state board has investigated the matter and informed NBA that six local varieties were used for development of Bt Brinjal and were accessed by the two companies without prior approval.
The board also recommended legal action against University of Agricultural Sciences at Dharward in North Karnataka, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Coimbatore, and Sathguru Management Consultants Ltd. They represent the consortium involving the United States Agency for International Development and Cornell University for collaborating with the seed firms in violation of the Biological Diversity Act (section 4).
“The law mandates that when biodiversity is to be accessed for commercial and research activity, local communities must be consulted as per the internationally applicable access and benefit sharing protocol,” according to a statement by ESG. Meanwhile ESG has urged the regulator to withhold access to any biological resource in the country by all the agencies involved.
