As India negotiates a bilateral trade deal with the US to shield itself from the risk of high tariffs, experts believe Washington will insist on New Delhi allowing imports of genetically modified (GM) corn and soya, and push for lower duty on walnuts.
“The US should be pushing hard for India to allow import of GM corn and soya, especially corn. They would also like lower duty on nuts. India first needs to decide if it would allow import of GM. It would be a big thing if India does that,” said Siraj Hussain, former Agriculture Secretary told Moneycontrol.
Allowing imports of corn could also prove beneficial to India as the country plans to increase ethanol blending in petrol and the government pushing for grain-based ethanol production.
India, however, has been reluctant to include GM crops in the country’s agriculture ecosystem. Currently, bt cotton is the only GM crop allowed for commercial cultivation and import.
