TNAU's Bt Brinjal crop opposed
Even as the issues of Genetically Engineered (GE) paddy crop raised at Alandurai village here last year are still fresh in the minds of farmers and environmentalists, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has came in for severe criticism for raising Bt Brinjal using the GE technology in its premises on a trial basis. A handful of farmers and environmentalists under the banner of Tamizhaga Velan Kappu Kuzhu (Tamil Nadu Agricultural Protection Committee) entered the Bt Brinjal trial field inside the university campus without obtaining prior permission and shouted slogans against it holding placards on Friday. Vice Chancellor Prof C Ramasamy and scientists as well as the police were clueless as what to do as the majority of the activists belonged to Pasumai Thaayagam (an environmental wing of PMK. The activists stuck a banner on the entrance board of TNAU, which read the university is owned by Monsanto, a multinational company. The university has raised the Bt brinjal crop on experimental basis for Monsanto company. The university employees removed the banner on the instructions from higher authorities. R Selvam, coordinator, Erode District Organic Farmers Federation, and Sathirya Sekar of Pasumai Thaayagam, who were part of the agitating group, said that last year the same company had done the trials of Bt rice at Alandurai village in Coimbatore. They alleged that the TNAU is working for the profit of multinational company contaminating the soil and health of the people. When contacted, V-C Ramasamy said that a group of persons entered the university fields without permission creating unnecessary problems. He said that Bt cotton is a hundred percent success across the country. Following Bt cotton cultivation, the production has increased by an additional 100 lakh tonnes, he said, adding that the university is using the global technology with clear permission and sending a report to the Centre.