House panel seeks ban on field trials of GM crops

Castigating the Union government processes for clearing genetically modified (GM) crops without proper scientific scrutiny of their impacts, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture said it was more than convinced that there are better options available for increasing food production and productivity than transgenic crops.

It asked for a ban on field trials of GM crops till a much better monitoring, oversight and surveillance mechanism replaces the existing defunct processes and all concerns of the panel are addressed.