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New Delhi, June 13: : The Genetic engineering approval committee (GEAC) has struck down the plea made by Rasi Seeds for commercial cultivation of its genetically modified (GM) RCH 2 Bt cotton seeds in the South, saying the product needs further field trials and evaluations.
The panel has also decided to set up a mechanism for monitoring the performance of the approved Bt cotton crops from this khariff (summer) season. It has said no request has so far been received from the developers for field-trials/commercialisation of GM potato and that it cannot be approved during the current year. This statement of the GEAC, however, runs counter to the statement made by the biotech secretary Manju Sharma in a recent interview to BBC, where she had said GM potato would be released for commercial cultivation within six months.
The 37th meeting of the GEAC here on Friday allowed multiplication of GM cotton seeds, namely RCH 20 Bt, RCH 138 Bt, RCH 134 Bt and RCH 144 Bt developed by Rasi Seeds in an area of 10 hectare to enable the company to generate seeds for large scale field trials during summer. It also noted that the RCH 2 Bt gave more seed cotton yield over the controlled cotton and in view of this it allowed seed production of this variety in 100,000 hca.
The panel has also said as Cry 1 Ac gene in Bt cotton cultivars developed by Rasi Seeds was evaluated and approved by GEAC, no further biosafety assessment is needed.
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