The Hindu Business Line : Nod for Bt brinjal likely around end of the year

Ahmedabad, March 26 Approval for Bt brinjal will come by the end of this year or early next year, said Mr R.K. Sinha, Executive Director, National Seed Association of India.

‘Not detrimental’

Even as the debate between the two groups in favour of and against the Bt brinjal rages on, Mr Sinha reaffirmed that the Union Government was committed to the cause of genetically engineered crops and would approve Bt brinjal once it completed all the trials and felt satisfied that it would not be detrimental to the interest of the farmers.

Around 25 scientists are eligible to test the effects of Bt brinjal on the soil, the vegetable and farmers across States such as Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, amongst others, where brinjal is produced.

Production

In 2008, eight to nine million tonnes of brinjal was produced from India of a global produce of 32 million tonnes, said Mr Sinha.

“Brinjal is the poor man’s crop and eight out of the 15 approved pesticides are used in it causing a loss of 60 per cent. That is why it is being chosen as the first vegetable to be produced through genetic engineering and 25 toxicity tests have been carried out. Since it takes two to three months from harvesting to sowing, we can have four crop cycles in a year,” he said.

Mahyco – Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company is developing the Bt variety and has assigned the task of trials to UAS Dharwad, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and Indian Institute of Horticulture Research. The method of genetic modification happens through the fruit and shoot borer technology, he said. Mahyco was also the first company to have tested Bt cotton, he added.

Whether Bt brinjal is safe or not, only time will tell, but one thing is sure that it is on its way to becoming the first food crop to be given genetic engineering clearance by the Union Government.

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