Over 100 apiculturists, or beekeepers, gathered at the ICAR-Mustard Research Institute in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, to protest against the Central government’s decision on giving environmental clearance for GM Mustard. Farmers from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana raised concerns and submitted requests to the Central government November 4, 2022 demanding withdrawal of the same.
The protests happened a day after the Supreme Court granted time till November 10 to the Centre to respond to a petition challenging its decision on GM mustard.
The Centre had given the go-ahead for GM mustard after the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee under the environment ministry approved the environmental release of Dhara Mustard Hybrid (DMH-11) seeds for trials and demonstrations October 18.
The beekepers expressed concern about the government decision, stating that honey production had already been impacted by earlier genetically modified products.
— source downtoearth.org.in | Himanshu Nitnaware | 04 Nov 2022