India’s rice exports could be hit big
A Europe-wide recall of the popular M&M candies by American candy giant Mars Wrigley, due to GM contamination of the rice whose flour was used in the candies, could have big implications for Indian farmers. India’s rice exports are expected to form nearly half of all global rice exports in 2021, and major markets like the EU have strong laws around GM products.
India could be in for a big hit in its rice exports. A massive recall of the popular Crispy M&Ms across Europe in August has been attributed to the presence of genetically modified (GM) contamination in the rice flour used to make the candy. The flour was made by a French company but the rice (broken rice, rather) came from India.
American candy giant Mars Wrigley, which makes the M&M, announced a recall of the products across Europe on August 6. The European Commission announced that besides the Mars recall, 11 types of baked goods manufactured in Italy and further distributed to other countries were also recalled.
Since genetically modified rice has not been cleared for commercial cultivation in India, the Union Commerce Ministry has promised a probe into the matter while also alleging that this might be an attempt to malign India, with a ministry spokesperson saying that the contamination may have happened in Europe.
However, farmer groups and environmental activists point to the possibility of cross-contamination happening in India, from the GM rice undergoing field trials, which have been allowed. They say a similar thing happened in USA in 2006, where a food trial by the MNC Bayer contaminated rice and seeds, leading to a plunge in exports.
Rice exports from India have jumped in recent years, as it is cheaper than rice from other major exporters like Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan, and also because expanded port-handling capacity is allowing the shipping of record volumes.
While exports in 2020 saw a 49 per cent jump from the previous year, only the first seven months of 2021 saw a 65 per cent jump from a year ago (12.84 million tonnes being exported).
Therefore, Indian rice could account for as much as 45 per cent of all global rice exports in 2021 and this is the reason that if GM contamination from India is proved—markets like the EU are extremely sensitive to GM contamination and have strong regulations aspects related to GM—there will be major implications for farmers in India, as well as for buyers abroad.
India’s rice exports amount to 18 million tonnes per annum, worth Rs 65,000 crore, and reach more than 75 countries, according to the Commerce Ministry.
Genetic modification of crops is the tweaking of the DNA of crops—usually by inserting DNA from other crops or organisms—giving the resultant varieties such desirable traits as resistance to disease and extreme climatic conditions. The field experiments are highly controlled across the globe since the effects of these new varieties on the environment and on the health of consumers need to be extensively studied.
In India, as of now, only one GM crop has been allowed for commercial cultivation—Bt Cotton, which is resistant to the bollworm.
