Monsanto looks beyond Bt, to launch new tech

Monsanto Biotech India, a subsidiary of American seed giant Monsanto, is currently working on the introduction of Roundup Ready Flex (RRFlex) technology, a herbicide-resistant trait in cotton, in India.

Raj Ketkar, joint managing director, Monsanto Biotech India, said it would take at least four more years to complete the mandatory procedures to market the technology in the country. RRFlex allows farmers the flexibility of using a spectrum of herbicides at various stages of plant development for killing weeds without affecting the crop.

RRFlex, which was introduced in the US and Australia among other countries in 2006, is offered both as a stand-alone trait and in combination with Bt 2 technology that protects the plant from bollworms.

Bt cotton was first introduced in India with Monsanto's transgenic technology in 2005, and the company came up with Bt 2, the two-gene product last year. Farmers in many parts of the country adopted the new technology as it helped them save huge costs on account of pesticides.

The acreage under Bt cotton crop is estimated to further expand by 30-40% during the ongoing kharif season as compared with 8.7 million acre covered in the last kharif across the country.