India
August 17, 2007
Source:
CropBiotech Update
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.
Decision taken in the 78th meeting of the
Genetic Engineering Approval Committee held on June 22,
2007:
http://www.envfor.nic.in/divisions/csurv/geac/geac-jun-78.pdf
For more information visit:
http://www.envfor.nic.in/divisions/csurv/geac/information.html
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