Acceptance of genetically modified food in India: perspectives of gatekeepers

Consumer and public policy resistance to genetically modified (GM) foods in rich countries has caused governments in many poor countries to withhold official permission for planting GM food crops for fear of damaging export markets for conventional crops. A total of 15 countries are already producing GM food crops. If China and India, the world's two most populous nations, authorise GM food production, then this will account for a large majority of the world's food production coming from GM‐adopting countries. This study sets out to determine perceptions of gatekeepers of the food distribution channel in India towards GM foods.

Personal interviews were conducted with key informants of a convenience sample of twenty gatekeepers of the food distribution channel in seven main commercial centres in the India. In addition, three agricultural scientists prominent in new crop development in India were interviewed to provide perspectives of likely current and future developments.

According to gatekeepers interviewed, the GM issue has not achieved great prominence in India, and the public generally seem oblivious to the issue. Activist opposition has been to foreign companies gaining monopoly rights over intellectual property, rather than to GM foods per se. Crop scientists interviewed indicated that biotechnology is widely regarded by the Indian Government as providing the means for a second green revolution. Current Indian government policy appears to be to speed up research and development of a wide range of GM food crops.

These findings are important to public policy makers in food exporting countries as they point to the likelihood of adoption of GM technology in the world's second most populous market.