More GM crop varieties get nod for field trials

The GEAC committee has cleared 15 such proposals

The environment ministry today gave its approval for field trials of certain varieties of Genetically Modified (GM)-crops, including rice, brinjal, chickpea, mustard and cotton.

The chairman of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), which met here today, said they cleared 15 such proposals.

""Field trials have been cleared for rice, brinjal, chickpea, mustard and cotton, etc. GEAC has allowed research in Indian conditions," said Hem Pande, the GEAC chairman.

"We cleared 15 proposals today. We had a backlog of about 70 proposals and have cleared about 60 of those till date.

(cumulatively from March 2014)," he added.

India has so far only allowed commercial growth of BT cotton with the issue of GM crops having been a highly controversial one for the country.

Pande said that representatives of DuPont today made a presentation before the committee on Seed Production Technology (SPT).

Officials, meanwhile, said that GEAC had not met between March 2013 and March 2014.

"We have virtually cleared one year's backlog barring cases where some information is yet to arrive or the party concerned has withdrawn... Some (cases) are pending with us because of incomplete information," Pande said.

Three meetings have taken place since March 2014 and, in the first meeting, the revalidation cases were taken up while the second meeting discussed the issue of Kharif crops. Now, Rabi crops have been taken up, sources said.

They added that the moratorium continues for BT brinjal and the only commercial release at present is cotton, which is grown on around 11 million hectares in the country.

As regards BT brinjal, the decision on commercialisation is yet to taken by the government, the sources said.