Villages after Villages going GM-FREE in India

Starting from a small village in Tamil Nadu in 2006, there are a growing number of villages becoming GE-Free all over India. After a debate on the pros and cons of Genetic Engineering in farming, these villages are clearly taking a pledge not to grow any GE crops in their lands nor consume any GE foods.

Some of the decisions that such GE-Free villages and the GE-Free farmers adhere to include:

• Farmers of this village do not buy and cultivate  Genetically modified seeds of crops

• Farmers here conserve seeds of crops which they cultivate and whenever they want additional supply, they go to other farmers or local markets

• Farmers of this village realize that conserving, cultivating and sharing of seeds is our fundamental right

• People belonging to this village do not buy and eat GM food of any sort. We eat mostly locally produced food. Even while we buy from the city markets we do not buy the products of those companies who sell GM food 

• People here will ensure that the shops in this village do not  sell GM food, either raw or processed

• People here will not feed our children with GM food.

Today, thousands of villages are GE-Free across the country in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu & Uttar Pradesh.

Equally important is the fact that Uttaranchal had decided to keep the entire state GM-Free, in keeping with its status as an organic farming state. Further, Kerala has also announced that it will remain GM-Free and has unveiled a new organic farming policy for the state. The Orissa Agriculture Minister, Dr Surendra Nayak had gone on record to say that he will not allow any GM trials in his state.