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Trials on Bt cotton suitable for northern states soon

The government will soon conduct trials on a new variety of Bt cotton suitable for north India besides mounting a publicity campaign to discourage northern farmers from cultivating the recently approved varieties of Bt cotton for southern and western regions.

The new variety developed by ICAR would be tried in several locations in North India, Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh told a Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his ministry on Tuesday.

He also announced that the Centre was holding discussions with northern states like Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan to apprise them that Bt cotton varieties approved recently for southern and western India should not be cultivated in these states as these were not suitable for the northern agro-primaric zones.

The minister said India was likely to develop transgenic cotton within three years and that the country was quite ahead in biotechnology.

The country had a responsibility to make sensible decisions on transgenic crops, he said adding extensive and rigorous testing in crop by the regulatory agencies in India could ensure that these products were not released unless they were proven bio-safety.

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