Thiruvananthapuram, January 03: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said legitimate questions of safety should be given “full weightage” while going in for genetically modified crops and advocated “appropriate regulator control” for it.
Inaugurating the 97th Indian Science Congress here, Singh said the developments in biotechnology have the prospect of substantially improving yields in major crops by increasing resistance to pests and also to moisture stress.
He said the genetically modified BT cotton was “well accepted” and made “a great difference” to production and its extension to food crops should be done following strictly scientific criteria.
“The technology of genetic modification is also being extended to food crops though this raises legitimate questions of safety. These must be given full weightage, with appropriate regulator control based on strictly scientific criteria,” he told the gathering.
–Agencies