Biotech Updates

Van Montagu Releases ISAAA Brief 38 in BioAsia 2009

February 6, 2009

Prof. Marc Van Montagu, Founder and Chairman, Institute of Plant Biotechnology for Developing Countries (IPBO), Ghent University, Belgium and Prof. V.L. Chopra, Member (S&T), Planning Commission of India released ISAAA Brief 38 on “The Development and Regulation on Bt Brinjal in India (Eggplant/Aubergine)” during the Crop Biotechnology: Scope and Challenges Session in BioAsia 2009 on 2nd Feb 2009 at Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Prof. Arjula Ramachandra Reddy, Vice Chancellor of Yogi Vemana University, Andhra Pradesh coordinated the program.

This ISAAA Brief on Bt brinjal is a very comprehensive review of all aspects of the cultivation in India of the important vegetable brinjal, which is likely to be the first biotech food crop to be approved and adopted in India in the near term, following the unparalleled success of the commercialization of the fiber crop, Bt cotton. The Brief summarizes the development and regulatory status in India of biotech Bt brinjal hybrids which confer resistance to the most important insect-pest of brinjal, fruit and shoot borer (FSB). It also captures the content of the extensive regulatory dossier for Biotech Bt brinjal, which has undergone a rigorous assessment by the regulatory authorities.

The full copy of ISAAA Brief 38 on “The Development and Regulation on Bt Brinjal in India (Eggplant/Aubergine)” is available at the ISAAA website: http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/38/download/isaaa-brief-38-2009.pdf For more information about biotech developments in India contact: b.choudhary@cgiar.org and k.gaur@cgiar.org