Mass sowing of GM seeds to be undertaken during kharif season
Part of: GS-Prelims and GS-III – Agriculture; Biotechnology
In News:
In the current kharif season, farmers would undertake mass sowing of Genetically modified (GM) seeds for maize, soyabean, mustard brinjal and herbicide tolerant (Ht) cotton.
Cultivating GM seeds is not approved in India.
Important value additions
Conventional plant breeding involves crossing species of the same genus to provide the offspring with the desired traits of both parents.
Genetic engineering aims to go beyond conventional breeding by introducing an alien gene in the seeds to get the desired effects.
The alien gene could be from a plant, an animal or even a soil bacterium.
Bt cotton, the only GM crop that is allowed in India, has two alien genes from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) that allows the crop to develop a protein toxic to the common pest pink bollworm.
In Bt brinjal, a gene allows the plant to resist attacks of fruit and shoot borer.
In DMH-11 mustard, genetic modification allows cross-pollination in a crop that self-pollinates in nature.
In 2002, the GEAC had allowed the commercial release of Bt cotton.
Use of the unapproved GM variant can attract a jail term of 5 years and fine of Rs 1 lakh under the Environmental Protection Act ,1989.
Kharif season
The Kharif season varies by crop and region, starting at the earliest in May and ending at the latest in January.
In India, the season is popularly considered to start in June and to end in October.
Kharif crops are usually sown with the beginning of the first rains during the advent of the south-west monsoon season, and they are harvested at the end of monsoon season (October-November).
