The Hindu Business Line : Mahyco gets ready for Bt rice, wheat nod

Anticipating a green-signal soon for the commercial cultivation of biotechnologically-improved variety of brinjal (Bt brinjal) from the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) of the Union Ministry of Environment, Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company Ltd (Mahyco) is now getting ready to go commercial with the Bt varieties of staple crops such as rice and wheat and some vegetables in India.

Vegetables

Among vegetables, Mahyco is targeting bhindi (lady’s finger or okra), chillies and tomato as having good potential for commercial cultivation.

Work on Bt cotton, which began in 1994, was granted approval in 2002 as a commercially viable option thus revolutionising the scene in this cash crop during the last seven years.

Similarly, Bt rice, work on which began in 2002-03, is now expected to be granted approval by the GEAC soon, Dr Usha Barwale Zehr, Joint Director of Research, Mahyco, told Business Line here today.

“In fact, we hope to have approval for the Bt wheat as well. Farmers in North India are eager to adopt new wheat cultivation technologies,” she added.

Brinjal

So far, field trials have been conducted by Mahyco across 24 locations in 2006-07. Now it is engaged in bio-safety studies, to be followed by more field studies. However, it is not filing any fresh applications with the GEAC for any more field trials, she said.

After Bt cotton, brinjal is the second crop in India that is likely to be approved by the Government for commercial cultivation. Out of the 5.5 lakh acres under brinjal in India, about 60 per cent is expected to be under hybrid varieties soon, Dr Zehr said.

However, use of Bt brinjal seeds commercially would not mean an increase in yield, which is 60 tonnes an acre in Gujarat at present, but its protection from pests.

Brinjal needs three times more pesticides, compared to cotton, in its 160-odd days cycle. The improved Bt variety would curtail the use of pesticides by 42 per cent, thus saving brinjal worth Rs 2,000 crore annually from damage.

The new variety would increase marketable fruit quantity by 116 per cent, thus giving cash benefit of Rs 16,000-19,000 an acre annually.

More Stories on : Bio-tech & Genetics | Rice | Wheat

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