Indigenous Bt Cotton Can No More Be Used For Cultivation

An indigenous Bt cotton variety Bt Bikaneri Narma developed through a collaborative effort can no more be used for cultivation.

A probe conducted by a five-member team, headed by Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice-Chancellor S.K. Sopory has termed the development of the strain 'invalid’.

The indigenous cotton variety was jointly developed by the National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, New Delhi; the Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur and the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad.

Its commercial cultivation began in 2009 on 8,400 hectares. However, farmers and government seed agencies companies complained that its performance and yield did not match expectations. Following this, the Indian Council for Agricultural Research stopped seed multiplication and commercialisation before ordering a probe.

All data obtained from bio-safety studies and field trials of the indigenous Bt cotton, termed BNBt, appear to have been conducted with material that contained an impure genetic material. The problem was that the genetic material obtained from a Canadian research scientist I. Altosaar of Ottawa got contaminated with genetic materials, particularly that of MON531.

Therefore, new trials would have to conducted and regulatory process should be gone through afresh if ICAR need to commericialise the indigenous cotton, the probe panel said.

According to official sources, the genetic material could no longer be used after the panel’s finding. The National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology has no control over the gene and it would be unethical to continue using it.

Stating that the project was poor planned and implemented with inappropriate distribution of work elements, the report by the panel said the Dharwad varsity, where the trials were conducted, lacked technical expertise.

The panel said that the presence of MON 531 was extensive and complete character of the desi variety was yet to be obtained fully.

Data available only showed reorganisation of the DNA of the foreign gene material and, therefore, more events with the new variety would have to be obtained.

There seemed to be an extreme hurry to come up with a public sector Bt cotton and commercial seed production procedures were not followed, the Sopory Committee charged, adding that two members of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee were part of the team that developed the indigenous variety, which was inappropriate.

Also, the Canadian scientist’s role in providing the gene through an agreement was not acknowledged.

The panel also found fault with various approaches of the team as well as ICAR.

A scientist, who did not want to be identified, said that though the team was not headed by a scientist came out with a fair and good report. It has represented factually what had transpired in the whole episode and has called for setting up a better system for such research projects.