The Hindu Business Line : Large-scale trials of domestic Bt cotton stalled

The hurdles
As per the GEAC, bio-safety studies were technically incomplete.
Feeding studies not done on large animals such as cows & buffaloes

Harish Damodaran

New Delhi, Aug. 21 Efforts to commercialise the country’s first ever publicly-bred genetically modified (GM) cotton have received a setback.The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) has cited the Supreme Court’s May 8 order while denying permission for large scale trials (LST) of five Bt hybrids/varieties developed by the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR).

Greater Choice

The Nagpur-based institute, affiliated to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), had sought to undertake large scale trials and seed production of four cotton hybrids (NHH-44, DBt-H1, DBt-H2 and Dbt-H5) and one variety (Bikaneri Nerma), incorporating the cry1Ac gene isolated from a soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).

These indigenously-developed GM cotton hybrids/varieties, when approved for commercial cultivation, could provide greater choice to farmers, who now shell out Rs 750 or more for every 450 gram packet of Bt hybrid seeds that can be planted on an acre.

The CICR hybrids are expected to be cheaper than the existing 130-odd privately bred approved cotton hybrids, which are all based on four ‘events’ or gene construct technologies belonging to the US life sciences major, Monsanto (Bollgard-I and Bollgard-II), JK Agri-Genetics (‘Event-1’) and Nath Seeds Ltd (‘GFM’). Moreover, in the case of Bikaneri Nerma Bt — the GM version of a popular American cotton variety — the farmer can multiply the seeds himself and avoid repeated purchase unlike in hybrids.

The CICR’s Bt cotton strains had undergone confined strip trials during the 2005 kharif season, followed by multi location field trails in kharif 2006 at four locations each in the Central, South and North Zones.

Small Laboratory

Further, they were subjected to bio-safety studies, including pollen flow, toxicity and allerginicity analysis, impact of cry1Ac protein on soil micro-flora and test-feeding of small laboratory animals.

Having successfully passed these stages, the Department of Biotechnology’s Monitoring and Evaluation Committee had recommended the CICR event for LST before the GEAC in its June 22 and August 8 meetings. But it ‘failed’ to obtain the go-ahead on two counts.

While the institute had done the feeding studies on small laboratory animals, it had not completed the same for large animals, i.e. cows and buffaloes. The bio-safety studies were, therefore, technically incomplete.

Incidentally, the GEAC had cited the same reason — of not having completed feeding studies in goats and lactating cows — while not granting LST approval for another new Bt cotton event ‘9124’ (expressing a synthetic cry1c gene) developed by the Bangalore-based Metahelix Life Sciences Pvt Ltd.

Test Protocol

The second ground on which the CICR event could not be cleared was the institute not being able to submit a test protocol that could detect ‘contamination’ of non-GM cotton by the DNA of its transgenic hybrids/varieties at levels as low as 0.01 per cent.

“At the GEAC meeting, we said that it is not possible to detect at this level because of the large genome size of cotton and maize, as compared to say rice.

However, since the Supreme Court order insisted on a 0.01 per cent level applicable for all crops (as a prerequisite for allowing LST), the GEAC had no choice lest it tantamount to contempt of court,” the CICR Director, Dr B.M. Khadi, told Business Line.

While the Government has filed applications for vacating or amending the test protocol directions, the matter is scheduled for hearing next only sometime next month.

By then, the planting season would be over, which means LST of the CICR and Metahelix events will take place only next year and the farmer may have to wait till kharif 2010 to try out these home-grown cotton transgenics.

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