US wants to sell GM soya and corn to India, farmers wary

US wants to sell GM soya and corn to India, farmers wary India has not opened its market to GM soya or corn, one of the sticking points in US trade talks. Indore, India: Mahesh Patel, a soya bean farmer in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, has been disappointed with the dismal produce in the just-concluded harvesting season. The 57-year-old, who has more than 3 hectares (7.4 acres) of fertile land, told Al Jazeera that the production of soya beans has suffered a major blow across the state due to excessive rain, which destroyed his standing crops. Recommended Stories list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Fact check: Trump says the US secured $20 trillion in investments this year list 2 of 4 ‘Highly speculative’ that Trump’s new fuel rules will help drivers: Experts list 3 of 4 Trump announces new deal with pharma companies to cut drug prices list 4 of 4 Musk wins US appeal to restore 2018 Tesla pay package “The production is just about 9,000kg”, one-fifth of what it should be, Patel said. At the same time, prices of corn, which is grown in the proximity of soya beans, have crashed, as the excessive rain led to a bumper crop. But farmers like Patel have bigger issues about which to worry. The two agrarian items, which are grown extensively for livestock and human consumption and considered to be among the world’s most crucial row crops, are one of the key elements in the ongoing trade discussions between India and the United States. So far, President Donald Trump has imposed 50 percent tariffs on India , pushing several industries that export heavily to the US to the brink of collapse. One of the sticking points in trade negotiations is the US’s access to India’s agriculture sector. Washington wants New Delhi to open its market to genetically modified (GM) soya and corn. The GM technology involves altering plant DNA to introduce new traits that help speed up production compared with traditional breeding. The US is the world’s second-largest producer of soya beans after Brazil, accounting for 28 percent, or 119.05 million metric tonnes, of global production. China was the biggest buyer of US soya beans until the trade war with Beijing led to a slump in sales . Suman Sahai, the founder of Gene Campaign, a nonprofit working for farmers, said the US desperately needs a market for its soya beans and corn, because China, its one-time top buyer, has dramatically scaled back its purchases. “Trump has to sell this soya and corn so as not to annoy his big political base of the soya [and] corn farmers,” she said. India’s reluctance India has so far held off the imports of GM-variety soya beans and corn on the grounds that it produces non-GM, or organic, crops, which have a global niche market and could be undermined by the perception of GM varieties diluting the strain. India produces about 13.05 million tonnes of soya beans, with...

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