The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), the Indian regulatory authority, has approved Bt brinjal for environmental release in India and its commercial release is subject to the approval from the Ministry of Environment & Forests, in 2010.
Bt Brinjal – its need, benefits, safety and partnership & collaborative efforts was at the focus of the discussion at the 7th Pacific Rim Conference on the Biotechnology of Bacillus thuringiensis and its environmental impact organized by ICAR, DBT, Calcutta University and AICBA, at National Agricultural Science Complex, New Delhi yesterday. Key speakers from the industry and scientific community made presentations to the delegates from all over the world who include leading scientists, industry professionals, academicians and students of Biotechnology.
Bt brinjal has been indigenously developed by Indian seed & biotech company - Mahyco, in collaboration with public sector institutions. Researched over a period of nine years, Bt Brinjal will be the first genetically modified food crop to be cleared for commercial cultivation in India and the first genetically modified brinjal in the world. The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), the Indian regulatory authority, has approved Bt brinjal for environmental release in India and its commercial release is subject to the approval from the Ministry of Environment & Forests, in 2010.
Mahyco has donated Bt brinjal technology to public research institutions to benefit a large number of resource-poor vegetable farmers in India. The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore, and the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharwad have successfully back-crossed event EE-1 into locally adapted open-pollinated brinjal varieties. Both these institutions are testing and evaluating different open-pollinated Bt brinjal varieties under the multi-location research
acai berry trials (MLRTs) and these varieties are likely to be made available to farmers in the near future. Additionally the technology has been shared internationally with University of Philippines, Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute and East West Seeds Bangladesh for development of different varieties of Bt Brinjal.
Dr. Bharat Char, Lead Biotechnology – Mahyco, in his presentation on “Shoot and Fruit Borer Resistant Bt Brinjal”, mentioned that Bt Brinjal incorporates the “cry1Ac’ expressing insecticidal protein to confer resistance against fruit and shoot borer and is compositionally identical to conventional brinjal, with same nutritional value. He said, “With Bt brinjal, farmers will use 70% less insecticide for FSB control and, as a result, 42% less pesticide overall for control of all insect pests. In addition to the reduced pesticide use, overall yield of marketable fruit is expected to rise 116% over conventional hybrids and 166% over conventional varieties. Higher yields and better quality produce would result in higher net income for brinjal farmers amounting to Rs 16,000-19,000 per acre, approximately Rs 2,000 crores to farmers across India.”
Dr. B. Mazumdar, Bejo Sheetal Seeds Pvt. Ltd., in his presentation on “Bt Brinjal – An example of Public Private Partnership” shared the success story of public private partnership for development of Bt Brinjal and its commercialization. NRCPV, IARI, New Delhi has developed Bt Brinjal technology indigenously and collaborated with Beejo Sheetal Seeds Ltd. Jalna for technology application and commercialization. Bt Brinjal was developed using a transformation process similar to the one used in the development of Bt Cotton. While replying queries from the delegates Dr, Mazumdar said “Bt Brinjal has enormous potential to
acai berry benefit both farmers and consumers”.
The Chairperson for the session was Prof A. Zaritsky from Ben-Gurion University, Israel and the Rapporteur was Dr. Sajiv Anand, Director All India Crop Biotechnology Association.
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