The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee has permitted a few companies and research institutes to conduct field trials in the development of genetically modified castor, rice, maize wheat and cotton.

The GM crops are designed to offer protection against certain insects, have more resistance to water salinity, and use nitrogen they need to grow more efficiently. The field trial decision follows industry worries that without the nod yet another trial season would be lost, stalling the research activity for the third successive year.

At a recent meeting in New Delhi, the GEAC, constituted under the Union Ministry of Environment, permitted Bayer Bioscience to conduct event selection trials on 45 transgenic rice events, comprising six genes. It would test insecticidal proteins such as Cry1Ab and Cry1Ca that give the plant resistance to insects such as stem borer. These trials will be conducted in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Kerala.

The GEAC also cleared Bayer’s proposal to conduct pollen flow study in cotton to measure the distance pollen containing a herbicide tolerant gene flows. The committee has accepted Mahyco’s proposal to conduct even selection trials at more locations for experiments in nitrogen use efficiency in cotton. It has also extended the validity of trials in castor conducted by the Directorate of Oilseeds Research in Hyderabad. The institute had proposed tests in GM castor by adding Cry1Ec and Cry1Aa genes, giving the plant resistance to insects and stress.

>kurmanath.kanchi@thehindu.co.in

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