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At the recent meeting of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton was denied access into northern India. The committee disallowed cultivation of the genetically modified (GM) crop in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh due to its high sensitivity to the leaf curl virus.
This strain is common in regions bordering Pakistan. Apart from affecting cotton yield, the virus can be easily transmitted by white flies and can infect other crops in the area.
While the GEAC approved three Bt cotton varieties for commercial cultivation in southern and central India in March 2002, the variety for the northern region was withheld for want of more field trials. Interestingly, a day after the GEAC meeting, the parliamentary standing committee on agriculture expressed dissatisfaction about the efficacy of Bt cotton. A report tabled in parliament by the panel pointed out that Bt cotton's resistance to pests was not significantly better than common cotton. This implies that Bt farms would continue using insecticides to kill bollworms. The committee found that farmers were incurring losses due to the steep cost of Bt cotton seeds, an increase in the water requirement necessitated by their use and greater application of fertilisers.
The Union government has asked the states to send an official assessment on the performance of the country's first GM crop. Another transgenic crop that has not been cleared for commercial cultivation by the GEAC is GM mustard, which is being developed by ProAgro Seeds Company Limited.
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