Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11)

Ten prominent agricultural scientists from India, including recipients of the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri awards, have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to lift the ban on Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11.
The DMH-11 variety was approved in 2022 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change. However, a public interest litigation (PIL) filed in the Supreme Court led to a ban on its field trials.
On July 23, 2024, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court delivered a split verdict. One judge rejected the central government’s approval, while the other allowed the trials to continue under strict conditions. The court also directed the government to formulate a national policy on the matter and referred the case to a larger bench, where the hearing is still pending.

Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11) is a genetically modified (GM) variety of mustard developed by Delhi University.
It was created by cross-breeding the Indian mustard variety ‘Varuna’ and European Variety ‘Early Heera-2.‘
It is a herbicide-tolerant, genetically modified mustard.
It contains two foreign genes, barnase and barstar, which are essential for producing hybrid seeds.
This variety has the potential to increase mustard yield by 28 to 30 percent compared to traditional varieties.