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NEW OFFERING: Mr. M Prabhakar Rao, Managing Director, Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd, displaying the newly-launched cotton hybrids at a press conference in Hyderabad on Wednesday. — A. Roy Chowdhury

Hyderabad , May 25

NUZIVEEDU Seeds Ltd, a seeds manufacturer, has launched Bt versions of its cotton hybrid varieties — Bunny and Mallika.

Announcing this here on Wednesday, Mr M. Prabhakar Rao, Managing Director of the company, said the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) had cleared Bunny Bt and Mallika for commercial release last week. The company had entered into a pact with Mahyco-Monsanto for using Bt technology in the new varieties.

The GEAC had early this month rejected extension for three Bt cotton varieties of Mahyco-Monsanto in Andhra Pradesh. The GEAC approval for Nuziveedu Seeds is for the commercial release of Bt varieties in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Mr Rao said GEAC's decision on Mahyco-Monsanto was not against the technology as such. It was the hybrid variety that was in question and not the technology. "Our hybrid has been tested. In fact, one-fourth of country cotton grew out of our seeds," he said.

"We have prepared about five lakh packets (each containing 450 g) of Bt hybrid seed for cultivation in the kharif season. Of these, 1.2-1.5 lakh packets will be sold in Andhra Pradesh," he said. Each packet contains 120 g of hybrid seed.

"The Bt seed pack, including the conventional seed, is put at Rs 1,820. Of this, Rs 1,250 is paid as royalty to Monsanto that supplied technology," Mr Rao said. Of the estimated 28-lakh acreage of cotton crop, the Bt is grown in some 4-4.5 lakh acres.

The company is working on developing its own transgenic for imparting resistance to bollworms. It is also working with the Lucknow-based National Botanical Research Institute to develop the technology. "These technologies are expected to be commercialised in three years," he said.

This would increase competition among the Bt seeds companies, resulting in a drop in prices, he said.

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