The Hindu Business Line : Nod for new Bt cotton strains may not spur competition

Lacking challenge
83 Bt varieties embody Bollgard-I event.
Another 15 are based on Bollgard-II.
Monsanto sole technology supplier for 98 of the transgenics.

New Delhi May 18

Will the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee's (GEAC) approval to 49 new transgenic cotton hybrids - besides the existing 62 - help spur competition in this Rs 800-crore plus and still-growing market? May be not.

The reason is simple. All the 111 genetically modified (GM) hybrids cleared so far for commercial cultivation are based on just four "events" or proprietary genetic constructs.

Bollgard-I

An "event", in biotech parlance, basically refers to a series of steps and protocols developed to insert a foreign gene into a host plant.

Thus, Bollgard-I (MON-531) is an "event" patented by the US life sciences company, Monsanto, to transfer cry1Ac - a gene isolated from a soil bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) - into a parental cotton line.

The resultant GM cotton, incorporating the particular Bt gene that produces proteins toxic to American bollworm, thereby exhibits "in-built" resistance to this dreaded insect pest.

Now, of the 111 commercially released transgenic cotton hybrids, as many as 83 embody the Bollgard-I event.

Another 15 are based on Bollgard-II (MON-15985 event), again of Monsanto.

Stacked combination

Bollgard-II features a stacked combination of cry1Ac and cry1Ab Bt genes, targeted to confer resistance to the American bollworm as well as spudoptera or armyworm larvae.

Of the remaining 13 hybrids, seven incorporate an alternative cry1Ac gene construct ("Event-1") of JK Agri-Genetics Ltd, developed by IIT-Kharagpur.

There are six involving the "GFM event" - containing fusion genes (cry 1Ab and cry Ac) - of Nath Seeds Ltd.

The last technology, sourced from a Chinese Government joint venture, is basically a fusion of cry1Ac and cry1Ab into a single gene.

So, while the 111 Bt cotton hybrids may prima facie offer "choice" to the farmer, the reality is one of restricted competition.

Indeed, for 98 out of the 111 transgenics, there is a lone technology supplier: Monsanto.

The impact of this can be gauged from the fact that when Bt cotton was introduced in 2002, farmers were paying about Rs 1,600 for a single 450 g packet, against Rs 450-500 for the non-Bt versions of the same hybrids.

The difference was mainly courtesy the Rs 875 `trait value' pocketed by the monopoly technology licensor, limiting the scope for price competition.

Lower fees

"Genuine competition will not come until there are more number of events, translating into lower technology fees," sources said.

"More approved hybrids based on the same events will not make any difference and may only prompt undesirable actions, such as the unilateral fixing of prices at Rs 750-1,000 per packet by the Andhra Pradesh Government."

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