Haryana Govt. Grants NOC to Mahyco for field trials of BT cotton
Recently, the Haryana government has issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) to seed major Mahyco to conduct field trials on BG-2 RRF, a herbicide tolerant and insect resistant variety of BT cotton.
‘BG-2 RRF’ is capable of providing protection against attacks by destructive pests such as the American bollworm.
Other steps taken by the government in this context:
- India has allowed commercial use of BG-1 and BG-2 GM cotton in the country, while approval for BG-2 RRF is pending at various stages.
- For the first time, the central government has exempted certain types of ‘genome-edited crops’ from the stringent rules applicable to genetically modified or GM crops, paving the way for further research and development of these crops.
Provisions in other countries:
- In the recent past, many countries have either developed or approved for commercial cultivation of vegetables, fruits, oilseeds and cereals developed through genome editing such as Gamma-aminobutyric acid or GABA tomato, high oleic canola and soybean, non-browning mushroom etc.
- China has also approved ‘guidelines’ for ‘genome editing’, which will lead to higher yields and research into crops that are resistant to pests and climate change.
Source – The Hindu
