Genetically Modified crops & biosafety

Story hook

In 2010, India's environment minister did something almost unheard of: after the country's top biotech regulator had approved Bt brinjal for commercial cultivation, he held public consultations across the country, listened to farmers, scientists and activists — and then overruled the regulator, imposing an indefinite moratorium. India had been on the verge of growing its first genetically modified food crop; instead, it slammed on the brakes. To this day, Bt cotton remains the only GM crop India allows farmers to grow commercially — even as Bt brinjal flourishes across the border in Bangladesh.

That moratorium captured the central tension of GM crops in India: a collision between food security and farm productivity on one side, and the precautionary principle, biodiversity and farmer-autonomy worries on the other. The drama continues. In 2022, regulators cleared the environmental release of GM mustard (DMH-11) — India's first GM food crop developed by a public university — only for the matter to reach the Supreme Court, which in 2024 delivered a split verdict and handed the policy back to the government.

Behind these headline battles sits a careful biosafety architecture — the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) and its sister bodies, operating under the Environment Protection Act and the international Cartagena Protocol. GM crops are where genetics, agriculture, ecology, law and ethics all meet — which is exactly why UPSC loves the topic.

Why this matters for UPSC

A high-yield, recurring GS-III topic (biotechnology, agriculture, environment) with strong ethics/IR angles. Prelims tests GEAC, Bt cotton/ brinjal/GM mustard, and the Cartagena Protocol. Mains and interviews love the food-security-vs-precaution debate, gene flow/biodiversity risks, corporate seed control, and the regulator-vs-judiciary dynamic. It is a favourite intersection of science and policy.