Part of: GS Prelims and GS III – Economy; Biotechnology
In news
The illegal cultivation of herbicide tolerant (HT) Bt cotton has seen a huge jump this year,
Sale of illegal seed packets has more than doubled from 30 lakh last year to 75 lakh this year.
BT Cotton is a genetically modified crops that produces an insecticide to combat the Cotton bollworm, a common pest.
GM crop has a gene artificially inserted from another species to provide some desired properties like pest resistance herbicide tolerance drought resistance
However, concerns are raised over its negative impact on Environment human health and crop diversity
Currently BT Cotton is the only GM crop allowed for commercial cultivation in India but herbicide tolerant BT Cotton has not been approved by regulators. T
They are available in the black market along with BT brinjal and HT Soya seeds.
HTbt Cotton variant makes the plant resistant to the Herbicide glyphosate
Glyphosate has carcinogenic effect and can also result in spread of herbicide resistance to near by plants through pollination
DO you know?
Regulatory Framework for approval of GM crops is covered under the Environment protection Act 1986
Genetic engineering appraisal committee under Ministry of Environment, forest and climate change is Apex body that allows for commercial release of GM crops in India
Cartagena protocol on biosafety provides well-defined mechanism of regulation of GM crops including biosafety evaluation and environmental release
