Monsanto is all set to fund research programmes at PAU, where topping the list are bio-transgenic crops, followed by plants efficient in nitrogen uptake and crop varieties that can break the current yield barriers.

Interestingly, while PAU, being a research and educational institute, is still working out its gains, Monsanto, on other hand, is very clear about the collaboration. “The first right on the technology and product developed through PAU and Monsanto collaboration stays with Monsanto, while PAU will get its share of royalties,” says Dr Amarjit Singh Basra, a senior scientist with the multi-national company, who is currently on a visit to PAU.

He says, “We are a biotech company and our prime area in PAU will also be the same. We are looking at funding research at PAU and in case we are able to develop a technology which is a result of this collaboration, Monsanto will develop the product and hold first right over it while the technology will stay with PAU, for which we will pay the institute a royalty.” When questioned about the introduction of BT crops into the food chain, Dr Basra justified his company’s stand, “When we make a discovery, it is put through rigorous safety checks not by us alone, but by other US agencies as well. And it is only after seven years that a said crop is introduced for commercial purposes. Moreover, nations that allow entry of these crops have a system of checking themselves.”

The upcoming collaboration has, meanwhile, raised the hackles of groups that are fighting for a Bt-free India. Kavitha Kurungati, secretary general of the Coalition for GM-Free India, when asked to comment on this development, said, “Monsanto as a company has been documented to have fudged records regarding safety of its products; it has penalised small farmers; it has been documented to pay bribes to get the needed nods. In short, it is totally and completely anti-farmer. PAU, by siding with Monsanto, is not only ditching farmers, but is also playing with tax payers’ money. In a state where farmers are reeling under an agrarian crisis and a state which is facing environmental disaster, this collaboration is nothing but bad news.”

Dr M.S. Kang, PAU Vice-Chancellor, meanwhile, added, “While we have a team of biotechnologists working on transgenic crops, and this is one area that Monsanto can intervene, we are also looking at technologies to reduce nitrogen pollution in Punjab. Monsanto is working on Bt brinjal and Bt papaya, while we will work on all those crops where we need to reduce the pesticide load.”

Dr Basra claims, “In Punjab, farmers use fertilisers as insurance for a higher yield and at present we have no technology where we can tell farmers to reduce fertiliser load and still get the same yield. In such a scenario, nitrogen, which is carcinogenic in nature, is leeching into the soil and polluting the underground water. Monsanto is now working on crops where uptake of nitrogen is faster and more efficient and where we can break the yield barriers. At Monsanto, we spend anything like $ 2-3 million each day on crop research the world over.”