New Delhi: Members from a social agricultural development alliance have questioned claims of Indian government’s flagship gene-editing campaign raising concerns at the two genome-edited rice varieties developed by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Ministry of Agriculture, The Wire reported.
The Coalition for a GM- Free India showcased what it said ‘scientific frauds’ in the two genome-edited rice verities.
The civil society members raised the matter against the backdrop of Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan’s introduction of two genome-edited rice varieties – Pusa DST-1 (IET 32043) and DRR Dhan 100 ‘Kamala’ (IET 32072) on May 4, 2025.
Back then, he had declared that ‘These new varieties will play a leading role in heralding the second Green Revolution.’
The members of the anti-GMO alliance reportedly disagree with claims that Pusa DST-1 could outshine its ‘conventional parent MTU-1010 (Cotton Dora Sannalu) in saline and alkaline conditions’, and ‘Kamala’, developed from BPT 5204 (Samba Mahsuri) can yield 17% more, maturing in 20 days earlier using nitrogen more efficiently.
Soumik Banerjee, an independent researcher, at a press conference pointed to contradictions in the claims about Dhan-100 Kamala, citing ICAR’s own documents that said in 2023, Kamala underperformed in 8 of 19 trial sites.
It performed worse in eastern and central zones than its parent with its supposed yield gain in the southern zone was only 4.3 per cent.
Banerjee said that in 2024: ‘Several sites were excluded without explanation, and results from just six sites were used to project a +17.21% yield advantage. The data for such a conclusion is not shown.’
Also he questioned the claim of ‘20 days earlier maturity’, saying that no published data supported it and spoke about the importance of using genetic modification technology safely.
Calling what he said ‘manipulations’ as not minor errors, he claimed that they are a ‘dangerous pattern of bad science’ being repeated to ‘justify controversial technologies’.
Another member of the group Kavitha Kurungati urged the government to stop giving false promises on Indian agriculture, adding that ‘Even the government’s own ICAR data is now showing this. India is has rich rice biodiversity we should encourage that instead of adding GMOs into our fields an agriculture’.