Swaminathan hails Govt move to stop Bt brinjal cultivation
Ludhiana:Eminent agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan commended
government's decision to defer the cultivation of the genetically modified (GM) Bt brinjal in the country. He expressed these views on the sidelines of the convocation of the Punjab Agriculture University here on Wednesday. Swaminathan said that studies should be conducted on this new variety of eggplant before giving a green signal for its mass cultivation. "Bt brinjal could not be released now because
there is so much of public fear and also the Chief Ministers of about 10 States,
have said that they don't want it. Therefore, take a little time. Let this also
be studied... Bt brinjal be studied in detail and at the same time develop a mechanism
which inspires public confidence," he added. On Tuesday, Minister of State for
Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh announced that the Government had deferred the launch of Bt brinjal by contending it would adopt a cautious approach and
wait for more scientific studies on the impact of the new variety of eggplant.
BT brinjal is a transgenic brinjal created by inserting a gene cry1Ac from soil
bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis into brinjal. A US-based multinational agricultural
biotechnology corporation and a Maharashtra-based Indian company market BT brinjal in India.
