Bt cotton: Centre to soon allow commercial use of 3 locally made varieties

The three variants are expected to be priced lower than current ones; seeds would be reusable

The government is expected to soon allow commercial release of three genetically modified (Bt) and indigenously developed varieties of cotton seed, for the first time. These were grown using the now off-patent Bollgard-1 technology (BG-1).

Officials said the seeds (called PAU-1, RS 2013 and F-1861) had been recommended for commercial release by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The seeds can be re-used and this allows significantly lower prices than existing Bt cotton varieties, mostly licensed by seed giant Monsanto.

Monsanto first started sub-licensing the BG-1 technology, which went off-patent in 2006. It now sub-licenses BG-2. Seeds produced by using this