New strain of mustard faces test

Farmers group opposes approval of the nation's first genetically modified commercial crop

Indian scientists have completed final trials of a genetically modified variety of mustard and will submit a report to the government in a month, hoping to overcome stiff opposition and make it the country's first commercial transgenic food crop.

A powerful farmers group close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party is one of the biggest critics of genetically modified crops and wants the government to stop all field trials, saying they "will destroy the entire agrarian economy".