Permission has been granted for the field trials in four states, including Karnataka, to a joint venture called Monsanto-Mahyco Biotech (MMB) Private Limited. Mahyco is a three-decade-old, Jalna-based seed company of which 26 per cent is now owned by Monsanto.

Eyebrows have been raised at the apparent lack of transparency in the case. Although agriculture is a state subject, the Karnataka Agriculture Minister has said he has not been informed of where the trials are going on. He thought it could be inMaharashtra, when in fact three districts in his own state are involved.

A note prepared by the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bangalore, for the state government warns that ``genetic modification'' involved in genetically engineered hybrid seeds is ``concealed'' and hence ``cannot be ascertained with the existing regulations of the seed act or quarantine''. Only cotton and tobacco seeds have so far responded to this technique, and hence, it is feared, rice, wheat, sorghum and soyabeans -- ``which do not readily respond to hybridisation'' -- might become primary targets for the trials.

There is another danger involved. Monsanto recently acquired Delta and Pine Laboratories, the US patent-holder of ``terminator gene''. The UAS describes it as a gene that ``blocks a genetically altered seed from germinating after one season''. If farmers were to use such a seed -- which would, of course, be high-yielding -- they would have to depend on the seed company every year for a new crop, as the old onewould give no seeds.

In a note to the Karnataka Agriculture Minister last August, Manju Sharma, Secretary in the Ministry of Science and Technology, DBT, said: ``This technology...poses a global threat to farmers, biodiversity and food and ecological security. The use of this technology would threaten the farmers' right to save the seed for their harvest. It concerns important crops like rice and wheat, which are the staple food for three-quarters of the poor nations in the world. If this technology is used widely, the multinational seed and agro-chemical industry would have an upper hand in controlling the food supply in the world, especially of wheat and rice.''

The UAS also feels that ``the terminator is a serious threat to the right of the farmers as breeders, users and managers of bio-diversity to save, exchange and improve seeds in the time-honoured way''. It also points out that pollen from the crops carrying the terminator gene could infect the fields of farmers who either reject or cannot affordthe technology. The university even feels that though the seeds may yield more, the genetic modification could reduce the nutritive value of the crops.

If farmers had to buy seeds every year, it would be an ideal situation for a multinational like Monsanto wanting to acquire a dominant position in a country as vast as India. This is also the stated policy of the US Government. America's Department of Agriculture spokesperson Willard Phelps recently admitted that ``second- and third-world'' markets were the main targets for the terminator seed.

Karnataka Agriculture Minister C. Byre Gowda, however, finds refuge in two assurances. One is from the DBT, which says all ``preventive and control measures'' are being undertaken at the port of entry against such transgenic hybrid seeds. The other is from Dr Sarat Chandra, geneticist and former head of the Molecular Biology Department at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), who has said the terminator gene ``is not a serious threat'' since we could ``fight itwith another gene''.

The DBT's response came after the state government convened a high-level meeting to discuss the ramifications of allowing MMB to develop transgenic cotton. The meeting was attended by the Development Commissioner, Government of Karnataka; the Secretary, Agriculture; representatives from the UAS and Karnataka Seed Development Corporation officials.

Byre Gowda said he has also been told by scientists that the terminator gene has just been patented and it would take at least five-six years before it is ready for commercial exploitation. However, the MMB itself anticipates that the Baccilus Thuringisis-gene resistant hybrid cotton seed would hit the Indian market by mid-2000.

Monasato managed a coup of sorts when it formed a joint venture with Mahyco, acquiring in the bargain the backing of one of India's premier seed scientists, B.R. Barwale. The chairman of Mahyco, Barwale is an internationally recognised authority on the subject and was recently awarded ``The World Food Prize'' by anAmerican foundation. Later, the Crop and Agricultural Society of America gave him the title of ``Father of Indian Seed Industry''.

Barwale supports the field trials planned by Monsanto, insisting on the one hand that the company has not yet acquired Delta and Pine, and on the other, that it will be at least 10 years before a terminator seed is commercially marketed. But the UAS even questions the benefits of the ``isolated DNA in plant breeding'' technology for which Monsanto (Delta and Pine) is known.

University experts fear that because of the multi-billion dollar business at stake, any alternative to the technology ``will be bribed or forced out of the picture. There will be enormous pressure on public breeders (institutions that grow seeds) to adopt the terminator to feed cash-starved research departments.'' The UAS should know. It was approached to conduct evaluation field trials for Monsanto's hybrid seeds developed on the IISc campus, which it turned down.

Dr B.R. Hegde, the just retired directorof research at the UAS, expresses surprise that despite knowing the risks, the ``scientific community is not lobbying for a ban'' on such transgenic material.

India does not even have a mechanism in place to check clandestine import of genetically altered material. The Indian Council for Agricultural Research has just started looking at ways to check this. Dr V.K. Sarvesh, Managing Director of Karnataka Seed Development Corporation -- a state government undertaking which is a competitor of MMB -- says it would take as much as two years for India to develop a method to detect the terminator gene in transgenic material.

Trouble in `seed basket'

There are rumblings in the ``seed basket'' of south India, the Ranebennur-Haveri belt which is home to almost hundred seed companies. Now one multinational, Monsanto, is slowly coming to dominate the scene. It already has Delta and Pine Laboratories under its belt and now appears to be going after Indian companies.

Monsanto has entered into a jointventure with Mahyco and taken over the Cargill Seed company, one of the largest producers of sunflower, maize and sorghum hybrid seeds in the country. Cargill has been producing hybrid seeds in Ranebennur and Haveri for the past eight years along with nearly 98 other firms, including Mahyco.

With Cargill and Mahyco by its side, Monsanto is in a position to corner the seed market in the country. It has also tied up strategically with others, including the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, where land and laboratory facilities have been made available to it.