The Hindu Business Line : Rasi Seeds to sell 3 lakh Bt cotton packets

RASI Seeds is looking forward to the current kharif season when its RCH 2 cottonseed, a Bt variant, will find a place in the market place. The company has got the approval from the GEAC (Genetic Engineering Approval Committee) to produce and sell over 3 lakh packets of the RCH 2 Bt cottonseed.

The Executive Director of Rasi Seeds, Mr Rajendran Ramasami, told Business Line that the company was the first in the South to have got a clearance for commercialising Bt cottonseed production. "The non-Bt version of RCH 2 has been the most popular hybrid, so we are very happy that this has been cleared by GEAC for the Bt version as well," he said.

The yield potential of RCH 2 (non-Bt) is said to be 15 quintals per acre under irrigated conditions and close to 8 quintal to 10 quintal per acre in rain-fed areas.

The company has pitched this variety specifically for the Central and South cotton zone. Mr Rajendran said the company was planning to sell the RCH 2 Bt seed in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Mr Rajendran said the company was permitted to produce seeds in 100 hectares, which would translate to a little more than 3 lakh packets (of 450 gm/packet). Stating that the overall Bt seed requirement had grown compared to the earlier year, he said: "The awareness level has increased. We are hoping that Bt cotton would be grown in 40,000 acres to 50,000 acres in Tamil Nadu alone this season."

Incidentally, Rasi Seeds is next only to the Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company (Mahyco) to get the GEAC approval. While three strains of Mahyco — MECH 162, MECH 12 and MECH 184 had been cleared for sale two years back, only one strain of Rasi Seeds hybrid - RCH 2 was approved by the GEAC as on March 31.

"Large-scale field trial of the other three varieties - RCH 20, RCH 144 and RCH 164 would be conducted, before being cleared by the GEAC," he added.

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