The Hindu Business Line : Mahyco to give Bt brinjal tech to other seed cos

Kolkata, April 14 The Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Ltd (Mahyco) is to license to other seed-growing companies the technology for the pest-resistant genetically modified Bt brinjal, according to its Joint Director of Research, Ms Usha Barwale Zehr.

Clearance

The Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation has cleared the scientific data on the new crop and the commercial launch is expected after the final approval by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee under the Ministry of Environment and Forest by this year, she said.

“The idea is to maximise the coverage under the new variety,” Ms Zehr said on the sidelines of a press conference here on Tuesday.

Crop coverage

The licensees may account for over 50 per cent of the proposed acreage, she said adding the balance would be marketed through its own distribution and sales network.

Currently, brinjal is grown on a total of 5,50,000 hectares in the country, of which nearly 1,64,000 hectares are under cultivation in West Bengal, the highest brinjal-growing state.

The company is awaiting a patent for its event identification technology, the technique of injecting the Bt (bascillus thuringiensis) protein into the genome of the brinjal. It has already extended the technology to Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute and East West Seed, a private seed growing company in Bangladesh, Ms Zehr said.

Extending cotton tech

Mahyco Monsanto Biotech Pvt Ltd, the joint venture between Mahyco seeds and Monsanto Holdings Pvt Ltd of the US, has so far licensed a similar technology applied in Bt cotton to 23 seed growing companies and the licensees contribute 60 per cent of the total cultivated area under the genetically modified cotton.

Bt cotton, currently the only commercially marketed crop produced by Bt technology in the country, accounts for over 80 per cent of the total cotton cultivating area.

While consumer groups and certain NGOs have expressed concerns over the consumption of Bt brinjals, Ms Zehr said the vegetable had passed all the safety standards set by the Government and external private agencies.

Lower pesticide use

“With Bt brinjal, farmers need to use 70 per cent less insecticides,” she said adding that the new variety would also help in checking wastage. The wastage in Bt brinjal would be 4-10 per cent as against 40-65 per cent in the normal variety.

“The cost advantage would result in a 116 per cent increase in market yield, while the productivity would rise by 8-13 per cent over the current average yield of 30 tonnes a hectare,” she said.

The company is also working on using Bt technology in other vegetables such as tomato, cabbage, cauliflower and okra, she said.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Mahyco to give Bt brinjal tech to other seed cos

AP bans sea fishing till June 15

UPA cottons on to strategy for Vidarbha

Area under cotton likely to fall

Vietnam pepper prices up a tad on regulated arrivals

Chilli cultivation hit