London: Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, said in remarks published on Wednesday that the Green Revolution in India only worked for a “short time” and is now leading to “disasters”.
Charles, a keen environmentalist and campaigner against genetically modified agriculture, made the controversial claim about India in a newspaper interview. He described GM technology as “the biggest disaster, environmentally, of all time”.
“Look at India's Green Revolution. It worked for a short time but now the price is being paid,” Charles told a newspaper.
“I have been to Punjab where you have seen the disasters that have taken place as a result of the over-demand on irrigation because of the hybrid seeds and grains that have been produced which demand huge amounts of water,” he added.
“The water table has disappeared. They have huge problems with water level, with pesticides, and complications are now coming home to roost,” Charles said.
The newspaper said that Charles is headed for “the biggest outpouring of criticism from scientists since he accused genetic engineers of taking us into 'realms that belong to God and God alone' in 1998.”
His example of India will be particularly contested as the Green Revolution is widely thought to have helped put independent India on the course to food self-sufficiency after suffering a series of famines under the British Raj.
In his remarks, Charles also said he had been to Western Australia where he had seen “huge salination problems” arising from “excessive approaches to modern forms of agriculture”.
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