NEW DELHI (PTI): Field release of live microbes illegally brought into India from Japan in gross violation of safety guidelines has triggered a controversy with scientific agencies blaming Each other for the fiasco
The Japanese bugs in plastic bottles which arrived in suitcases bypassing customs and quarantine regulations have already been inoculated in several acres of farmers’ fields in Pondicherry and Uttar Pradesh. Now several bottles are on their way for use in farms in Madhya Pradesh.
Astonishingly nobody in India knows the identify of these microbes nor were they tested to Ensure freedom from harmful Pathogens that could potentially cause havoc with Indian agriculture.
Sections of the scientific community have been shocked by the ease with which a private agency in Japan managed to do this with the help of Gullible scientist’s bureaucrats and politicians
They say the Department of Environment (DOE) and the ministry of agriculture way have to do a lot of explaining as to how they allowed the release of the exotic microbes with= out clearance from the legally established expert committee functioning under DOE itself
Article extracted from this publication >> May 6, 1994
