The US wants India to open up imports of genetically modified (GM) crops such as corn and
soybean. But New Delhi is reluctant as dismal productivity in India makes farmers uncom-
petitive. Besides, local farmers have no access to transgenic
Why US is looking at India to sell its GM corn & soy Exports are sliding as China is buying less.
Why is the US pressing India on GM crops?
GM corn and soy are among major crops grown by US farm-ers. In 2024, the US exported soybeans worth $24.7 billion with over half of the sales com-ing from China. Corn exports in 2024 were valued at $13.7 billion with Mexico being the largest buyer. The data from US Depart-ment of Agriculture shows that China has slashed its purchases of US corn from $5.2 billion in 2022 to $331 million in 2024, and that of US soy from $18 billion to $13 billion as it looked to secure favourable tariffs. Since India is a large edible oil importer with a rising demand for corn for eth-anol, the US seeks to secure a
4 Why are US corn and soy yields so high?
Non-GM corn grown in India is used to make poultry feed, industrial starch, in food pro-cessing and to produce ethanol (to blend in petrol). Very little is consumed directly. Despite low yields, growers have been shift-ing to corn due to rising demand and prices, explaining India’s reluctance to allow GM corn.
More so, Bihar, a top maize pro-ducer, goes to polls in Novem-Farmers in the US plant GM corn and soy with transgenic traits that offer protection from pests and tolerance from use of herbi-cides. Companies compete to provide the best technology. While highyielding seeds can be reused, farmers buy them every year due to intellectual property laws. Such protections are weak in India, making companies reluctant to introduce new tech-nology. Crop rotation, precision fertilizer use and practices like mulching, zerotill and cover crops also lead to higher yields in the US. 2024
What explains India’s reluctance?
India has not allowed GM food crops like soy and corn, and the only GM crop permitted is cot-ton. For Indian farmers, soy and corn are key crops grown on 13 million hectares and 12 million hectares, respectively. But the average yields are poor: 1.2 tonnes per hectare for soy and 3.5 tonnes per hectare for maize or corn, against US perhectare yields of 3.5 tonnes for soy and over 11 tonnes for corn. India imports oil extracted from GM soy-without detectable DNA or proteins-from Argentina and Brazil. The US prefers to sell
whole beans, but India is a net exporter of soy meal-protein-rich de-oiled cake used as What is India’s position on import of GM corn? 5 Is India against GM techno-logy?
Not really. In 2022, India approved the environmental release of GM mustard (DMH-11), developed by the Delhi Uni-versity. India maintains it is safe for use as food and animal feed, but commercial release has been stalled due to an ongoing case in the Supreme Court. Punjab Agri-cultural University is carrying out field trials of GM corn. Gujarat and Maharashtra farm-ers are growing unapproved herbicide-tolerant GM cotton, as yields are falling, making India a net importer of cotton from
Source : Pressreader
