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'No t-gene in bollgard cotton seeds' ; PM urged to ban 'risky' crops; Nath Sluis jumps on hybrid seeds bandwagon

Field trials of bollgard cotton varieties by the United States-based seed giant Monsanto at four places in Karnataka were not related to the "terminator gene", University of Agriculture Science Vice-Chancellor M Mahadevappa has said.

The much-feared ''terminator gene'' prevents the use of second generation seeds for sowing.

He said that Monsanto was conducting trials of genetically developed Bollgard cotton seeds under special conditions in the country.

The seed was developed by injuction of a gene taken from the soil bacterium, bacillius thuringiensis.

The BT gene was capable of killing certain insects, including the commonly found pest caterpillar. This pest is not vulnerable to pesticides available in the market at present.

However, the variety reportedly kills caterpillars, soon after they feast on the plant.

The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, a farmers' organisation, had announced agitational programme against Monsanto, terming the variety as ''terminator seeds''. They had also uprooted the crop planted at a farm yesterday.

The state government had constituted an inquiry committee to bring out the ''facts'' on the alleged trial of "terminator gene" in the state.

The Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security has urged Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to ban all field trials of genetically engineered crops.

Reacting to the permission granted to Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company for conducting field trials on genetically engineered cotton at 40 places in the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the forum said Vajpayee should not allow biotechnology companies to play havoc with farming systems and thereby destroy the country's food security.

Mahyco has a collaboration with Monsanto, the seed multinational.

Genetically engineered crops posed a grave risk to human safety and the environment, forum president Devinder Sharma said in a statement. A gene is a living material and its excessive application to ward off insects could trigger a biological treadmill whose implications would be much severe than what happened with the increased use of chemical pesticides, he added.

Meanwhile, Karnataka agriculture minister C Byregowda who is in New Delhi to meet with the top scientists of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research said that government was against allowing field tests on the terminator technology which was dangerous for the country.

Even many European countries were opposed to these trials as farmers could not grow their own seeds for future use and would be dependent on seed companies for their requirements.

Byre Gowda said the department of bio-technology had given permission for conducting field trials of transgenic cotton crops in four places in Karnataka and the state government had constituted a committee of scientists and administrators to monitor and evaluate the pros and cons of the trials.

He said the state government was in favour of taking expert opinion on the issue. The Indian Council for Agriculture Research and various agricultural universities should develop disease resistant varieties and make available free seeds to farmers to counter the efforts of multinationals and private sector companies, he felt.

The research findings should be made public property and the nation should benefit, he said.

Sharma wanted Vajpayee to initiate action on the authorities of the department of bio-technology for allowing field trials without having a public debate on the issue.

Meanwhile, Nath Sluis Limited, owned by American agro major Seminis Inc, will shortly launch its research operation in the spheres of breeding, producing and marketing of quality vegetable seeds to Indian farmers at its newly constructed modern plant near Aurangabad in Maharashtra.

Seminis is one of the leading vegetable seeds company in the world operating with three world known brands -- Asgrow, Petoseeds and Royal Sluis. The company has a marketing network in more than 110 countries. It controls 22 per cent of the $ 1.73 billion global fruit and vegetable seeds market including 39 per cent of US vegetable seeds market and 24 per cent of European market.

The company is also world's largest developer and producer of hybrid and open pollinated vegetable seeds, developing superior varieties of crop.

In India, researchers of Nath Sluis are now working on crops like okra, gourds, eggplant, onions and are making selection and purification of existing popular notified varieties in India.

A sum of Rs 50 million has already been spent on creating the world class infrastructure including a most modern plant pathology laboratory and green house in Aurangabad.

The company finance director Manoj Kumar Gupta said that the facilities for plant pathology shall help the research team for screening the varieties for a number of diseases and thereby will help the research team to bring about new hybrids which shall be resistant or tolerant to the diseases.

The company has established six research trial stations which will be used for the screening the new variety of hybrid vegetable seeds. ''These stations are in different climatic conditions, where the performance of our varieties can be scrutinised to establish the adaptability of hybrids developed to the agro climatic conditions,'' he said.

Apart from this, the product development team is also helping in identifying, screening and recommending hybrids developed by Seminis Worldwide particularly for crops like tomato, peppers, melons, cabbage and cauliflower.

The annual vegetable seeds consumption is estimated at about 36,000 metric tons on the total acreage of about 5.6 million hectares.

At present, the demand for seeds in the country is quite small, but the company is hopeful to revolutionise this field.

It is relying on the availability of world class hybrid vegetable seeds specially developed for the Indian agro climatic conditions. These will give higher yields and traits likes better flavour, texture and high nutritious value. UNI

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