KRRS protests against Monsanto crops

BANGALORE: Members of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), led by its president M.D. Nanjundaswamy, on Friday held a protest meeting in the city against the use of genetic engineering by MNC Monsanto for various crops in the state.
KRRS representatives met Agriculture Minister V.S. Koujalgi and company''s Director of Research and Development (R&D) T.M.Manjunath and expressed their apprehension over the threat of gradual elimination of the flora and fauna by genetic engineering.
Monsanto, however, clarified that the trials for BT cotton in India was approved by the Centre and had undergone the bio-safety trials for the last five years. ``Besides the scientific committee set up by the Union government which examined, the data gathered has supported commercialisation,'''' Monsanto representative Manjunath said.
KRRS activists told Manjunath that Koujalgi had promised to convene a meeting next week. ``We in the company are willing to explain the technology and its global performance to the state government and to farmers,'''' Manjunath said.