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Bt eggplants (brinjal) in India

 

Since 1999 GENET collects and distributes information on various topics in the field of genetic engineering in agriculture, food production and health. With this "Special Topic: Bt Brinjal in India" GENET aims at providing an overview about the debate on development and approval of Bt brinjal in this country, based on our archives.

2009-11-12 |

Bt brinjal in India: A lost cause?

In March 2002, when Bt cotton was approved for commercial cultivation, there was scant opposition to the Government’s decision. The few murmurs of protest from assorted NGOs and self-proclaimed farmers’ bodies were drowned by the actions of the ryots themselves. Their clamouring for the transgenic cotton seeds was indeed reminiscent of the early Green Revolution days, when the country’s premier agricultural universities reported frequent thefts and raids by farmers jostling for the new ’magic’ wheat varieties.

2009-11-11 |

Monsanto to introduce Bt corn in India

Unfazed by the ongoing opposition to the commercialisation of Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) brinjal, Monsanto India Limited (MIL), a subsidiary of US-based global biotech food major Monsanto Company, is planning to introduce genetically modified corn in the country by 2012-13. The proposed corn seed would be embedded with not only Bt but also with the company’s ’Roundup ready’ technology that would be helpful in management of weeds and insects, MIL’s director- corporate affairs, Gyanendra Shukla, told Business Standard.

2009-11-02 |

Indian agricultural universities give green signal to Bt Brinjal

a distinguished professor with the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) said that genetically modified brinjal (Bt brinjal) is not harmful and added that it’s a safe technology. Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, additional director, research, (agriculture) in PAU, said the technology would produce vegetables with much less insecticide level, whereas Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), which was involved in research for genetically modified (GM) food the past six years, has also commented that it is safe to consume Bt brinjal.

2009-11-02 |

Why a freeze on GM crops in India

the decision of Jairam Ramesh, minister for environment and forests, to postpone decision on environmental release of Bt brinjal until enough time has been given to people to review what has been done on Bt brinjal critically and according to stringent scientific norms, and then to have a scientific discussion on the merit or demerit of such a release, is fair and wise. We must commend the minister for his courageous stand.

2009-11-02 |

Indian States against Bt brinjal

A Madhya Pradesh minister believes there is no difference between genetically modified (GM) crops and the East India Co, the British firm that began trading with India in 1600 but subsequently came to rule the country till 1858. And many farmers and activists agree with him.
[...] ’Commercial cultivation of Bt brinjal (a GM crop) will not be allowed in Madhya Pradesh,’ Kusmariya told IANS.

2009-10-23 |

Indian farmer organisations, civil society groups and State governments oppose Bt brinjal

Several farmer leaders have sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reject the recommendation of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) for commercial release of Bt brinjal. Speaking to journalists here Rakesh Tikait of the Bhartiya Kisan Union, Yudhvir Singh of the Coordination Committee of Indian Farmers’ Movements, Vijay Jawandhia of Shetkari Sanghatan, Vidarbha, Kodihalli Chandrasekhar of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, Kannaiyan of Tamizhaga Vyavasayigal Sangham and G.V. Ramanjaneyulu of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture said they had jointly sought an appointment with the Prime Minister to impress upon him to reject Bt brinjal.

2009-10-23 |

Commercial cultivation of Bt brinjal may take a year

Bt brinjal, or the country’s first genetically modified food crop, is unlikely to be available for commercial cultivation before late next year, and still requires mandatory clearances from three government ministries, say key officials involved with the regulatory process. On Wednesday, the genetic engineering approval committee (GEAC), a biotechnology regulatory authority ruled that genetically modified, or GM, brinjal was safe for commercial cultivation. This was after a GEAC subcommittee, constituted on the Supreme Court’s directive, reviewed the scientific data from two-year-long field trials in farmers’ fields.

2009-10-14 |

Test tube brinjal - The history of Bt eggplants in India

On the ministry’s regulatory body’s agenda was a historic item: permission for the commercial cultivation of India’s first genetically modified food crop. [...] GEAC was forced to delay a decision on the approval till April 2009. This, because of two reports that found their way to the meeting. For India’s small but highly active and well-networked anti-GM lobby had managed to get their hands on Mahyco’s test results through a Right to Information petition.

2009-10-14 |

Indian Committee approves commercial release of Bt brinjal

The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), the biotechnology regulator, Wednesday approved the commercialisation of genetically modified Bt brinjal. Bt Brinjal still needs the government’s nod before its release in the market. If it gets the nod, Bt Brinjal will be the first genetically modified food in India. Members of the committee, which met here, said the genetically modified crop had the potential to increase yields by a significant extent.

2009-09-24 |

Indian researchers develop Bt eggplant

A team of researchers at the University of Agricultural Science (UAS) here has succeed in genetically engineering a widely grown vegetable crop in the country to manage fruit and shoot borer pest with the development of six Bt brinjal varieties popular across three south-western states. The pest-resistant transgenic varieties of brinjal were developed under a centrally funded project spread over five years, using a process similar to the one used in the development of Bt cotton.

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