IndianExpress.com :: GM on trial on Bt Crops

IndianExpress.com :: GM on trial
GM on trial

Sonu Jain

Posted online: Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 0006 hrs Print Email

As Bt brinjal awaits clearance in India, SONU JAIN explains the status of Bt crops in India and the nervousness over GM brinjal getting the nod

•How many vegetable crops have been genetically modified?

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Globally, 23 such species have been genetically engineered and are being tested. China grows tomato, papaya and sweet pepper commercially; the US grows squash (a variety of gourd) and papaya. Over a dozen biotech crops are currently being field-tested, including the three major staples (rice, maize and wheat) and potato, tomato, soybean, cabbage, peanut, melon, papaya, sweet pepper, chilli and rapeseed.

According to International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), in 2007, 120 lakh farmers in 23 countries grew biotech crops on 114.3 million hectares.

•What is the status of Bt crops in India?

India approved Bt cotton in 2002 and since then, has cleared 135 different hybrids. India has displaced the USA as the second largest producer of cotton in the world after China. Production of cotton rose to an all-time high in 2007—from almost 194 million bales in 2002 when Bt cotton was first planted commercially in India to over 337 million bales in 2007.

•Why has brinjal been chosen for genetic modification?

The average brinjal yield in India is around 200 to 350 quintals a hectare. It is estimated that the damage caused by the Shoot and Fruit Borer in brinjal, the major pest, ranges from 50 to 70 per cent and in economic terms, the loss is estimated to be around $221 million. It is to lend tolerance to this pest that Bt Brinjal has been developed.

•Why this nervousness over its clearance?

This is the first time GM brinjal has been released for an advanced stage of field trials in open conditions anywhere in the world. Activists believe India’s “poor” regulatory regime has allowed illegal Bt seeds to thrive.

•What benefits does Bt brinjal claim to offer to farmers?

Farmers have to spray brinjal heavily with pesticide because of the fruit and shoot borer, the most destructive insect pest for the crop. The company claims that Bt or Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), a common soil bacterium, produces a protein which, when ingested by the larva of the targeted insect, binds itself to the insect’s gut and incapacitates the insect.

•What stage of regulatory clearance is it in?

Mahyco is developing Bt brinjal in India. The process started in 2002 and this April, the first phase of large scale field trials is over. The results of biosafety tests are with Genetic Engineering Approval Committee.n How many vegetable crops have been genetically modified?

Globally, 23 such species have been genetically engineered and are being tested. China grows tomato, papaya and sweet pepper commercially; the US grows squash (a variety of gourd) and papaya. Over a dozen biotech crops are currently being field-tested, including the three major staples (rice, maize and wheat) and potato, tomato, soybean, cabbage, peanut, melon, papaya, sweet pepper, chilli and rapeseed.

According to International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), in 2007, 120 lakh farmers in 23 countries grew biotech crops on 114.3 million hectares.