New Delhi–Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave on Monday said that Indian agriculture scientists are capable enough for meeting the demands of farmers.

His statement came as some farmers associations have urged chief ministers of 22 states to push the central government to allow Genetically Modified (GM) mustard. Meanwhile the Environment Ministry on Thursday said that it has not taken a final call on allowing its cultivation.

It also said that ministry will seek public comments before allowing the GM mustard, which, while opposed by some green activists, is also praised by farmers for its high productivity.

Anil Madhav Dave
Anil Madhav Dave

“Indian agricultural scientists are perfectly capable of meeting the demands of our farmers,” the minister said while inaugurating a workshop on private sector facility under Green Climate Fund (GCF) here.

The workshop aims at providing an opportunity to the private sector to explore funding opportunities offered by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a fund under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to help developing countries tackle climate change.

The fund was formed in 2010 and aims to channel about $100 billion each year to the developing countries for climate change, however the “expectations of developing countries” and “capacity of developed country to deliver such amount” is debated by several experts.

The minister also added that climate change cannot be rectified merely through economics.

He laid emphasis on the mobilisation of financial resources for clean and green investment and sought greater involvement of stakeholders in the planning process. He also emphasised building of sustainability through the traditional Indian knowledge.

An ardent follower of traditional methods for farming, Dave, during a recent interaction with media, spoke at length the quality of crop cultivated through such methods. (IANS)