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[huma]

BANGALORE: Hundreds of angry protesters on Saturday raised slogans and waved placards here as Union environment minister M Jairam Ramesh today commenced a national consultation, the last in the series, on the controversial move to introduce Bt Brinjal.

Farmers, NGO's and members of various organisations condemned the move to introduce Bt Brinjal, carrying placards with slogans like "we don't need Bt Brinjal."

The environment minister even lost his temper briefly during the debate and sparred with an anti-Bt Brinjal protester. The angry minister told the protester, “You require mental help”. The protester, an ayurvedic doctor, returned the jibe, saying, “That is exactly what I want to tell you.”

The consultation witnessed some angry farmers arguing that introduction of Bt Brinjal was not safe, as research conducted in the field was still insufficient. Seed owners would not end up being farmers, but multinationals, they said.

A huge posse of police personnel was deployed, even as protesters raised slogans while the debate was on.

Today's meeting here is the last in a series of nationwide public consultation meetings on Bt Brinjal, in which groups, NGOs, technologists and others would air their views.

Ramesh has already stated that a final decision on commercial introduction of Bt brinjal would be taken by February 10.

"Scientists should not display arrogance while discussing the issue. I am trying to find a middle path, which means (between) anti-democratic nature of NGOs and arrogance of scientists," Ramesh said, when a scientist asked him why farmers were resisting Bt Brinjal while they were open to accepting technologies like mobile phone.

Some farmers argued that commercialisation of Bt Brinjal and its use could impact the life-span of consumers. The farmers, drawn from various parts of Karnataka, said Bt Brinjal might not result in economic gain as multinationals would attempt to cash in on the trend.

However, another set of farmers favoured its cultivation, arguing that Bt Brinjal's high yield would spell better economic stability and mitigate the financial problems of farmers, caused by poor yield due to traditional cultivation.

Scientists, who presented their views, stated that Bt Brinjal was still not ready for mass consumption. The technology had still to be fine-tuned and further research was needed to study the long-term implication for such a genetically modified product.

The debate saw a strong expression of views from both sides, with the union minister time and again forced to calm the agitated protesters.