India recently landed in the midst of one such controversy after PepsiCo India sued at least four farmers from Gujarat for using its proprietary FC5 variety—which goes into making Lay’s chips—without the company’s consent. According to them, PepsiCo should have collected evidence to nail its competitor, instead of suing farmers. In this din, something crucial is ignored—the reality that Indian farmers are keen to test and adopt new crop varieties even at the risk of legal action. In Gujarat, farmers have been cultivating genetically modified cotton since before it was approved by the environment ministry. The controversy surrounding Monstanto’s Bt cotton—and consequently India’s agriculture ministry regulating royalties payable to the company—is a case in point.

Source: Mint April 30, 2019 18:00 UTC