Bt Brinjal is a Safe Breakthrough: Indian Minister of S&T

India's Union Minister of Science & Technology Prithviraj Chavan describes Bt brinjal a safe breakthrough in an exclusive interview in the latest issue of BiotechNews, an official news portal of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt of India. Speaking to the Biotech News, a bimonthly magazine of DBT, he says "I am sure that development of Bt brinjal, the first biotech vegetable crop, is appropriate and timely. I understand that it has been tested rigorously over the last nine years and has been found substantially equivalent to its non-Bt counterparts, except for an additional gene-cry1Ac which expresses Cry protein effective only against a very specific target insect, in this case Fruit and Shoot Borer (FSB). GEAC has evaluated Bt brinjal for its efficacy and safety as per the protocols and procedures prescribed under the Ministry of Environment and Forest's Environment Protection Act 1986 and Rules 1989 as well as DBT's own biosafety norms".

Addressing the concerns raised over the biosafety studies conducted for Bt brinjal, the Minister says "GEAC (MoEF) and Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation (RCGM) of DBT have jointly developed protocols for each test, closely monitored progress and ensured compliance during the testing of Bt brinjal. Bt brinjal has been tested extensively at various public sector institutions and nationally accredited laboratories with very good GLP track records in collaboration with Mahyco".  Bt brinjal, the first biotech vegetable crop which is grown by 1.4 million small and marginal farmers on 550,000 hectare in India, is declared safe for environmental release and recommended for commercial approval to the Ministry of Environment and Forest in mid Oct 2009. Highlighting the rigorous testing that has preceded the GEAC nod to Bt brinjal Mr. Chavan says "All these studies have concluded that Bt brinjal causes no adverse effects when consumed by humans, animals, non-target organisms and beneficial insects. In fact, Bt protein was not even detectable in cooked brinjal fruit".

Expressing his views on labelling regime for GM foods in India the Minister adds "It is advisable to adhere to labelling regime that is based on the nutritional composition of product and not on the process used to develop the product as long as the product has been determined as safe". Finally, lauding the role of Bt technology in agriculture, he says "The main advantage of this technology is that it reduces the use of chemical pest control making the technology safe for the environment as well as human consumption".

A full issue of Dec 2009 DBT's BiotechNews titled "Bt brinjal: A Pioneering Push" is available on BiotechNews online portal at http://biotechnews.in/index.html For more information about biotech development in India  contact: b.choudhary@cgiar.org and k.gaur@cgiar.org