Genetically modified curse arrives

Not a day passes at the Krishna temple at Udupi, 12 km from here, without the devotees being served the Sambar prepared using the iconic Matti Gulla brinjal.

Every year, lakhs of devotees from all over the country go back with the taste of the Sambar still lingering on their taste buds and the aroma in their nostrils. But things may not remain the same in the next couple of years, as farmers have begun to give up cultivating Matti Gulla in favour of hybrid varieties of brinjal. With acreage under Matti Gulla reducing, the local variety is becoming rare in markets in Udupi and Mangalore and costlier too.

It all started in 2008 when the companies started pushing genetically modified (GM) seeds in brinjal-growing areas in the state. Executives of seed companies preyed on growers at Matti, near Udupi, where the Gulla (round object, with the term denoting the globular appearance of the local brinjal) has been grown for over 400 years, on a piece of land enriched with fish meal manure. About 250 families are engaged in the cultivation of this heritage crop which secured the geographical indication (GI) tag in 2010 after a long struggle for recognition.

Matti Gulla is a hardy variety. For years, the plants needed no management including pest control, but after the GM seed invasion, Matti Gulla too became vulnerable to pests, bringing down the quality of crop and yield, indicating bio-contamination, say the office-bearers of the Matti Raitha Sangha.

”Due to contamination, the produce was getting rejected by the consumers, and the shortfall in production raised prices,” said Srinivas Bhat a grower who also sells them at an outlet in Udupi.
This village has 750 acres under Matti Gulla in a geographical area lying between Udyavar river in the east to Swarna river in the west, belonging to families that depend on growing Matti Gulla for sustenance. The Matti brinjal is an essential ingredient for a typical Udupi sambar. Gourmets from several cities including Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai can’t do without the brinjal and some of the Gulf countries import them.

”But this time I don’t think it will be possible for us to meet the demand as our crops have suffered damage. Firstly and uncharacteristically, the crops have been severely affected by two types of pests identified as leaf cutters (Green Jiggy Jocids) and white fleas, which ravage the plants just as the fruit come to harvest, says Jayendra Poojary, a grower.

Gulla is seasonal and yields two crops a year. The most important bio-info about Matti Gulla is that it grows in marshy land and local resource persons contend that the plant can absorb nitrogen directly from the air and converts it into ammonia which becomes the basic fertilizer for growing Gulla in Matti. The findings during 2006, made by Richard Bardgett and his colleagues from the University of Lancaster and British Institute Grassland and Environmental Research also supports this contention. He used most modern radio isotopic techniques that organic nitrogen can be directly taken up by plants and used differently by different species support the scientific validity of the ancient writings. Thus the practice followed by the Mattu villagers in cultivation of Mattu brinjal stands scientific scrutiny, according to an observation made by the researchers of Federation of Asian Nutrition Societies.

In the wings
The controversial Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on April 22 this year amid huge protests by opposition parties. Greenpeace India remarked, “This shows that the UPA government has not only ignored the voices of people, but also the credible and exhaustive report by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture which had tabled its report ‘Cultivation of Genetically Modified Food Crops – Prospects and Effects’ in the Monsoon Session last year. PSC had clearly recommended that the BRAI Bill is not the way forward for regulating GM crops in the country.”

The opposition
The BRAI proposal has been facing strong opposition from various quarters due to its centralised, biased, unscientific and non-transparent nature in dealing with the regulation of GM crops. It also comes at a time when there is mounting scientific evidences on the adverse impact of GM crops on human health, environment and farmers livelihoods. State governments and civil society organisations are also agitated due to the absence of any decision making roles for state governments and clauses to override the Right to Information (RTI) Act in the current BRAI Bill. — Greenpeace India

The legend behind the brinjal
There is also a legend behind Matti Gulla. ”The legend says that abut 400 years ago, Vadiraja Swami of Udupi Sode mutt, one of the ashta (eight) mutts, gave a bag of seeds to the fishermen who were facing severe fish famine. He insisted that they eke their livelihood out of growing this vegetable for rest of their lives, and pass on the knowhow of growing brinjal to their following generations. Since that day, farmers have renounced fishing and have been growing Matti Gulla - which they also call Vadiraja Gulla, says Krishnaraja Pejathaya, a scholar of the Krishna math.

Matti Gulla trivia
Mattu, a coastal village in Udupi district, is located by the Arabian Sea.

The village is also known by name of Matti.

The village is famous for a particular variety of brinjal (eggplant) that is grown only here.

The brinjal grown here is light green in colour and is spherical, unlike the usual purple-coloured variety.

The first brinjal harvested is offered to Lord Krishna at Krishna Matha, Udupi.

The seeds for growing this type of brinjal is said to be given by Shri Vadiraja swamiji.

This village is also famous for a bridge named Annekatta, which connects it to Katapady town.
Source: Wikipedia