Search the Internet          Tips  Sites: Finance, Investment

Monsanto cautiously optimistic on India GM cotton

Monsanto Co welcomed reports that India had decided to approve a type of genetically modified cotton, but the US-based biotechnology giant was awaiting official word from the Indian government, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.

"Monsanto has not received any official documentation that says we've got formal approval for Bt cotton," spokesman Lee Quarles told Reuters in a telephone interview.

However, he added, "We're encouraged by these reports that indicate it's going to be approved."

Earlier on Tuesday, A M Gokhale, the chairman of India's Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, said the panel had approved Bt cotton, which has been genetically altered to produce its own insecticide. "Bt" stands for Bacillus thuringiensis, the source of the insecticide-producing gene.

"The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee has approved the release of Bt cotton into the environment of the country with certain conditions," Gokhale told reporters in New Delhi after the Indian panel met.

"Not all varieties of Bt cotton have been cleared," Gokhale said, without specifying which varieties had got the green light.

India, the world's third-largest cotton producer, has so far allowed only a few companies and research bodies to carry out field trials of gene-altered crops. One of those companies is Monsanto's seed partner in India, Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company Ltd, known as Mahyco, according to a Monsanto statement issued in February.

Quarles said Monsanto would work with Mahyco on any next steps for producing transgenic crops for Indian producers.

"We look forward to making this technology available to Indian cotton farmers to help them control the pests that they face in their cotton fields," Quarles told Reuters.

Traders say India has the world's largest cotton-growing area, but its yield is just 300 kg per hectare -- less than half the global average of about 650 kg.

ALSO READ:
The Rediff Budget Special
Money

Tell us what you think of this report