GM mustard in India

Business Daily

BBC

News, Business

4.4 • 796 Ratings

🗓️ 27 April 2023

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Could growing genetically modified mustard be the answer to oil shortages in India? Each year India spends billions of dollars importing 70 percent of its cooking oil from other countries like Argentina, Malaysia and Brazil.

We speak to a farmer struggling to make a profit growing un-modified mustard crops. We also explore the debate in India around genetically modified food crops and speak to one farmer already growing genetically modified cotton.

Presenter / producer: Devina Gupta Image: Cotton farmer Ganesh Nanote; Credit: Ganesh Nanote

Transcript

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0:00.0	In 2008, 23-year-old Norwegian student Martina Vic Magnuson was killed in an apartment near Mayfair.
0:08.3	Hours after her death, the only suspect in the case fled the UK to Yemen.
0:13.4	He's never been questioned by the police.
0:16.2	I'm Noelle Mekhafi and I made a promise to Martina's family 15 years ago to find out what happened. Murder in
0:23.4	Mayfair. Part of the documentary, find it wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Hello and namaste. I'm
0:33.2	Ravina Gupta and welcome to Business Daily. Right now I'm in my kitchen in Solford in the UK.
0:40.9	Away from my home in India and I'm trying to make Indian tamarine lentils curry and this
0:47.9	crackling sounds of black mustard seeds in yellow mustard oil reminds me of home.
0:57.3	Now, these are two essential ingredients for Indian cooking.
1:00.1	And I'm about to add some more spices.
1:04.3	And this curry is now cooking.
1:07.6	So let me tell you about the hot debate happening in India over the key ingredient of my dish? Mustard.
1:11.3	A question that is closely linked to the food security of the world's most populous country.
1:18.7	Is India ready for genetically modified mustard?
1:22.7	It is the first GM food crop to be approved officially for cultivation.
1:27.5	And not everyone is happy.
1:29.6	We talk about that in a bit, but first, let's tell you why and how this is a big step for India's agrarian economy.
1:40.8	If you find yourself in a farm in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in the winter season,
1:46.3	one thing you can't miss is this sound of tractors.
1:50.4	These are big red and black machines moving around the field in between the crops as well.
1:57.1	And one of the crops in these fields is bound to be of big green stems with yellow flowers.
2:02.6	This crop is locally called sarso.
	...

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