Rs 40 crore project to develop transgenic crops

The government will invest Rs 40 crore on a project to develop transgenic crop varieties, with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to pioneer research in 12 crops to begin with. More crops may be added later.

The biotechnology laboratories under ICAR and state agricultural universities will be upgraded for the project, agriculture minister Rajnath Singh told the parliamentary consultative committee attached to his ministry here today.

The project would focus on improvement of specially targeted traits, such as resistance to insect pests, fungal diseases and viral diseases; tolerance to abiotic stresses like drought and extension of product shelf life.

The crops to be taken up immediately include maize, pigeonpea, chickpea, soyabean, cotton, brassica, tomato, brinjal, banana, papaya, potato and cassava.

Indian scientists were already working on transgenic varieties of cotton, rice, potato, mustard, pigeonpea, chickpea, brinjal, tomato, cabbage, cauliflower, tobacco, pulses, castor and groundnut.

Evolved by ICAR and other institutions and companies, these were currently under development or testing.

Three transgenic Bt cotton hybrids had already been released for commercial cultivation since 2002 - MECH-184, MECH-162 and MECH-12.

Others were being examined by the genetic engineering approval committee (GEAC) of the environment ministry.

ICAR had achieved some progress in developing transgenic potato with improved nutritional value and balanced amino acid composition. The Bt detection kit developed by ICAR to ascertain purity of transgenic seeds had proved effective.

A committee under agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan was examining agricultural bio-technology issues, said Singh.

Its report, likely next month, was expected to guide future policy concerning transgenic and genetically modified organisms and harmonisation of activities of ministries concerned with the issue.

Singh said a capacity building programme and qualified human resource for agro-biotechnology research was needed. Bio-technology applications in general and transgenics in particular could increase farm production and productivity.

These varieties should not be assessed on environmental and biosafety clearance alone, but also on their utility to the farm sector, with special priority on isolation of indigenous genes.