The Hindu : New Delhi News : Comments on Bt brinjal trials to be received till July 15

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 05, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Comments on Bt brinjal trials to be received till July 15

Special Correspondent

The data will be analysed by a special committee

NEW DELHI: The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) of the Union Environment and Forests Ministry has extended the deadline until July 15 for receiving comments for grant of permission for large-scale field trial production of transgenic brinjal seed, the country's first genetically modified food crop produced by Mahyco.

The GEAC had put on its website the data related to bio-safety of Bt brinjal and sought comments until July 5. However, keeping in mind the sensitivity of the matter, the date has been extended to July 15.

The data will be analysed by a special committee, set up for the purpose, in the following two weeks and a final decision on the granting of permission is likely to be taken in August.

The expert committee, comprising plant breeders and toxicologists, will submit its recommendations to the GEAC.

The GEAC meeting also decided to allow the data in the presence of the Ministry officials and committee members. This has been done under the Right to Information Act.

Meanwhile, a sub-committee chaired by C. D. Mayee of the Agricultural Scientist Recruitment Board, and co-chaired by GEAC, to look into the existing processes, protocols and other related issues has suggested that once an event has been tested for its bio-safety 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, the sub-committee has said.

It has suggested enhancing the involvement of the State Agriculture Universities (SAUs) and State Agriculture Departments by designating Director Research of SAUs as the nodal point for pre-release field monitoring and Direct Agriculture Extension of SAUs as the nodal point for post release monitoring mechanism under the direct supervision of respectively.

A funding mechanism for the same has also been proposed.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research trials in respect of Bt cotton with cry1Ac (Mon 531 event) have been made optional.

This was done in view of the constraints expressed by ICAR in handling large number of field trials due to limited resources and infrastructure. Alternatively the companies can opt for SAU trials.

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