With Bangladesh likely to approve commercial cultivation of genetically modified (GM) Bt cotton varieties sourced from an Indian company soon, seed manufacturers in the country have urged for regulatory approval of the new generation of herbicide-tolerant Bt (HTBt) cotton varieties whose application is pending with Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC).
According to Ram Kaundinya, director general, Federation of Seed Industry for India, the government has to go ahead with deployment of modern GM technology urgently to cut down on rising cost of pesticides and labour in cotton cultivation.
Once introduced for commercial cultivation, Bt cotton will be Bangladesh’s second GM crop after Bt brinjal which was approved in 2013. The report stated that by introducing high-yielding and pest-resistant Bt cotton in 2002, India made a complete turnaround from a cotton importing country to an exporting country. “Over the past two decades, India has emerged as the world’s number one exporter of cotton and also commands nearly a third of Bangladesh’s total import volume of the natural fibre,”it stated.
