Another illegal Bt Cotton gains root in Gujarat

Another illegal Bt Cotton gains root in Gujarat

Subject : Agriculture

Context: An indigenously developed genetically modified cotton is being cultivated in Gujarat’s Saurashtra region illegally, adding to the Centre woes arising from the planting of unauthorised HTBt cotton in various parts of the country.

Concept :

• Regarded by various names these as 4Bt, Bt4 and 4G, the new cotton, also a Bt range, has been designed by crossing cotton grown locally in the Saurashtra location with cotton cultivated in Australia and the US.
• According to cotton traders in Rajkot, the fibre length of the new Bt cotton is longer than other types grown in the state as nicely as the yield. It is also brighter white than other cotton.
• In its to start with year of introduction, it was totally free of the pink bollworm menace that experienced affected the cotton crop in several elements of Gujarat and Maharashtra very last year.
• In the circumstance of HTBt cotton, whose cultivation is illegal as it has not been authorised by the Basic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), its planting gained around the very last two several years with growers defying Point out authorities.
• Previous year, HTBt cotton made up fifteen for every cent of the whole 129.fifty seven lakh hectares acreage beneath the crop, according to the seed marketplace.
• The new cotton is also not authorised by the GEAC, which clears Bt seeds for cultivation.
• Seed marketplace resources mentioned it is risky for farmers to improve unauthorised seeds because they are not likely to get any payment in the function of crop failure.

Pink Bollworm (PBW)

• The pink bollworm (Pectinophoragossypiella), is an insect known for being a pest in cotton farming.
• The pink bollworm is native to Asia, but has become an invasive species in most of the world’s cotton-growing regions.
• In parts of India, the pink bollworm is now resistant to first generation transgenic Bt cotton (Bollgard cotton) that expresses a single Bt gene (Cry1Ac).

Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC)

• GEAC is apex body under Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change for regulating manufacturing, use, import, export and storage of hazardous micro-organisms or genetically engineered organisms (GMOs) and cells in the country.
• It is also responsible for giving technical approval of proposals relating to release of GMOs and products including experimental field trials.
• However, Environment Minister gives final approval for GMOs.