India Approves Large Scale Field Trials for Bt Brinjal

The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), India's apex biotechnology  regulatory body, has approved large scale field trials of the fruit and shoot borer resistant (FSBR)  brinjal (eggplant). It is the first large scale field trials for a genetically modified (GM) food crop in India. Farmers are already planting Bt cotton, the first GM crop commercialized in the country since 2002.

Developed by seed company Mahyco, the new hybrid variety contains cry1Ac gene (EE1 event) which makes the crop resistant to the FSB. A major constraint in eggplant production, the pest can cause significant yield loss and reduce the number of marketable fruits. Farmers often resort to intensive use of pesticides to control the FSB. The FSBR varieties will be evaluated for their agronomic performance and efficacy in controlling FSB and their effect on beneficial insects in the fields of the Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, which is a premier public sector research institute of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research under the Ministry of Agriculture. The FSBR variety is expected to give higher yields with less pesticide use. Mahyco has already transferred this technology to public sector institutions in India, Bangladesh and the Philippines.

For more information visit: http://www.envfor.nic.in/divisions/csurv/geac/information.html or http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/08/17/stories/2007081752371200.htm. Contact  Bhagirath Choudhary  at  b.choudhary@cgiar.org for news on biotechnology in India.