Monsanto Has No Clearance On Cotton

Monsanto, an American multinational, has not got any bio-safety clearance in India to market its genetically-improved cotton as reported in a number of dailies.

According to a clarification issued by Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Ltd (Mahyco), which is partly-owned by Monsanto, Mahyco has received an authorisation from the Department of Biotechnology to approach the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, a statutory body created under the rules of the Environment Protection Act, 1990.

All large-scale cultivation and marketing of genetically-improved crops are required to take the recommendations and approval of the GEAC, which is under the ministry of environment and forests.

Talking to Business Standard, DBT secretary Manju Sharma clarified her stand in giving clearance to Mahyco saying, "The Review Committee for Genetic Manipula-tion, under the DBT, evaluated data from all the 40 controlled trials conducted by Mahyco before giving clearance that the gene has no adverse impact on the environment. And so we recommended GEAC that the results from the controlled trials are satisfactory."

 

She further said since these trials were controlled _ they were conducted in small fields (less than one acre) _ GEAC might ask Mahyco to conduct the same trial in large contained fields, either independent or in collaboration with Indian Council for Agriculture Research.

She said DBT has never dealt with Monsanto, which according to the media, claims to have got clearance in India.

The new cotton variety from Mahyco contains a foreign gene, extracted by Monsanto from an organism called Bacillus thuingiensis. This bacterial gene protects the plant from a major cotton pest called A lepidoptora.