GEAC meeting: Bt Cotton to cover up 81,00,000acres

04 Jul '06

2 min read

The area under Bt cotton will reach 81,00,000 lakh acres during 2006 in the country. During the year 2002 this was cultivated in 72,682 acres of the land which increased to 31,00,000 acres last year.

Experience and high adoption of Bt cotton by farmers have confirmed the efficacy of Bt technology for control of bollworms. The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) meeting, which was held on 30.6.2006, further said that about 121 Bt cotton hybrids are under various stages of field trials.

India has approved the cultivation of Bt cotton with cry1Ac (Mon 531 event) in 2002 after extensive and exhaustive biosafety and agronomic evaluation. Within a period of four years about 59 hybrids expressing cry1Ac (Mon 531 event) have been released by the GEAC.

The Ministry of Environment & Forests, constituted a sub-Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr C D Mayee, Chairman ASRB, and Co-Chair GEAC, to look into the existing processes, protocols and other related issues and gave recommendation for rationalization of the same.

The final report of the sub-committee which was formulated through a consultative process was adopted by the GEAC.

The sub-Committee recommended various things. Extensive biosafety and agronomic testing is not necessary for approved event. Once an event has been tested for its biosafety and approved for environmental release, it should be treated on par with the non-Bt hybrids.

An “event based approval system” instead of the case by case approval process presently adopted by the GEAC under Rules 1989, would speed up the introduction of new and diverse products for the Indian farmer, stimulate competition and offer a wider choice, without compromising bio-safety and environmental safety.

Click here to see more details:

Press Information Bureau

More Textiles News - India...