Hyderabad, India
February 16, 2005
By Phalguna Jandhyala,
Business Standard via
Checkbiotech
The International Crops Research
Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) plans to start open
field trials for transgenic groundnut during the coming
kharif season in August. ICRISAT has, for the first time, also
conducted contained field trial for transgenic chickpea
crop.
Kiran K Sharma, principal
scientist (genetic transformation lab), ICRISAT, told Business
Standard that the institute has successfully completed three
contained field trials within the institute and plans to start
open field trials from August.
“We have approached the Centre and also the Department of
Biotechnology to sponsor the research which is required to take
the product through the validation process,” Sharma said. The
crop would initially be tested in Rajasthan where the Peanut
Clump Virus disease is most prevalent, he added.
According to him, the transgenic groundnuts also get infected at
a very early stage during seed germination. However, unlike the
untransformed groundnuts, the transgenic groundnuts do not
support virus multiplication and carry very little or no virus
by the time of harvesting, and no effect of the disease on
growth and development of plants.
Speaking about the transgenic chickpea, he said, “The Legume Pod
Borer is the major virus which affects the chickpea crop, and
since India is one of the largest producer of this crop the
institute has developed the transgenic chickpea.”
The virus damages around $500-million worth of crop across the
world and in India it accounts for a loss of around $3,00,000,
he added.
“We would be carrying out two more field trials in the next 24
months and then would validate it in the open field trial before
launching it in the commercial market. So, the whole process
will take another five years,” he said.
On the investments required in the sector, Sharma said, “Once
the contained field trials are completed, we would require
around Rs 3 crore to take the product for validation and develop
packages,” he said. |