The eggplant fruit and shoot borer (Leucinodes orbonalis) causes crop losses of 50 to 70 percent. Farmers are prone to indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides around 25 to 80 applications and this involves great expense and results in defective fruits. Excessive use of chemicals also leads to buildup of pesticide residues on produce, destruction of beneficial insects, resurgence of pests, exposure of farmworkers to pesticides, and environmental contamination. The Bacillus thuringiensis Cry 1 Ac gene inserted into varieties of brinjal (Bt brinjal), such as GM cotton, provides a built-in pest control mechanism to save the crop from damage, reduce cultivation costs, and prevent incidental risks. for health and the environment.
Mahyco has developed Bt brinjal hybrids and has also partnered with public institutions to develop landraces with the Bt gene.
Mahyco approached the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) for permission to conduct large-scale open field trials. No sooner had the Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Hyderabad and Greenpeace India trashed the Bt brinjal concept than they filed position papers and filed with the GEAC against Mahyco’s application. Although there were also representations before the GEAC in favor of Bt brinjal, the GEAC was fair to the anti-biotech lobby and formed a committee to analyze this contentious issue. Not satisfied with the composition of the GEAC Committee, the anti-biotech lobby has set up its own ‘independent committee of experts’, a kind of parallel ‘GEAC’. Although this committee is ostensibly set to block GM brinjal, nothing is stopping it from taking on new life to pontificate about other GM crops.
A number of questions raised by the Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Greenpeace regarding genetically modified brinjal were previously discussed on this site.
The Bt brinjal underwent a variety of tests and analyzes and details are available on the website of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. None of these studies have indicated any negative possibilities that would justify banning Bt brinjal from commercial cultivation.
During Mahyco’s development of Bt brinjal since 2000, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR, Government of India) and the Genetic Modification Review Committee (RCGM, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India) were monitoring fields in multiple locations trials Also associated is the Agricultural Research Institute of India, New Delhi, an ICAR institution, which has considerable experience with Bt brinjal. Several public and private sector institutions/organizations are involved in testing and analysis obligatory and complementary, as indicated below:
a) Acute oral toxicity in rats, mucosal irritation tests in female rabbits and primary skin irritation tests in rabbits: Intox, Pune.
b) Effects on beneficial and non-target insects: All India Coordinated Research Project (Vegetable Crops), Varanasi.
c) Allergenicity assessment: Rallis India Ltd., Bangalore.
d) Common carp dietary feeding responses and growth performances: Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai.
e) Effects on broilers: Central Avian Research Institute, Izatnagar.
f) Subchronic feeding trials in rabbits and goats: Advinus Therapeutic, Bangalore.
(g) Cow feeding experiments: GB Pant University of Agricultural Sciences, Pantnagar.
h) Molecular fingerprinting and chemical studies: Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad.
This belies the charge that companies are conducting open field tests of Bt brinjal without independent verification of the safety claims made by the product developers. If one believes the anti-tech lobby, all these public and private sector investigative agencies are in cahoots with product developers.
Efficacy studies showed that Bt brinjal varieties effectively controlled brinjal stem and fruit borer and American armyworm, with insect mortality of 98 percent.
Several other parameters comparing Bt and non-Bt brinjal varieties, such as pollen flow, seed germination and weediness, aggressiveness, Bt protein accumulation in soil, soil microbiota, substantial equivalency, protein expression, baseline susceptibility, degree of refuge need and its benefits and socio-economic and risk assessment etc. were examined, none of which indicate that Bt brinjal is undesirable.
Bt brinjal varieties were found to be substantially equivalent to their non-Bt isogenics in factors such as chemical constituents, moisture, protein, oil, ash, carbohydrates, calories per fruit, nitrogen, ash, and crude fiber content in leaf, stem, and root. tissues, culinary qualities and estimation of protein in cooked fruits.
None of this is going well with the protesters.
While considering public interest litigation against all genetically modified (GE) products, the Supreme Court of India (SCI) recently ordered the GEAC not to grant approval for fresh field trials of GM crops and this has put the request from Mahyco for large-scale open testing. Field trials of Bt brinjal awaiting. Although the SCI ruling does not, however, prevent the GEAC Brinjal Committee from functioning, Bt brinjal still has a long way to go to reach commercialization.