Pvt seed cos seek permission to produce Bt Brinjal

Yasir Wardad | Published: February 25, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

Country's private seed companies sought government permission to produce and market genetically engineered (GE) variety Bt Brinjal, officials said.
"Six Bangladeshi seed companies including Supreme Seed Company Ltd, GETCO Agro Vision Ltd and Lal Leer Seed Co Ltd, who are engaged in vegetables, rice and maize seed business, have sought Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute's (BARI's) approval for trial production and marketing of the Bt Brinjal", an agriculture ministry official said.
He said the local companies submitted applications to the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) and BARI in December last year in this regard.
The official said "BARI has been conducting research on Bt Brinjal since March, 2005 with the technical assistance of Mahyco Seed Company Ltd, the Indian ally of Monsanto, which is the IP right holder of Bt gene."
"During the period (2005-2013), BARI conducted research on nine Bangladeshi indigenous brinjal varieties namely Uttara, Kajla, Nayantara, Singnath, Dohazari, Chaga, Khatkhatia, Islampuri and Ishurdi local and inserted Bt gene into those," he said.
"BARI got approval from the National Committee on Bio-safety (NCB) for field level operation of the genetically modified organism (GMO) variety Bt Brinjal in October 30, 2013," he said.
However, BARI said the GMO variety is infused with pest-resistant Bt gene and that gene insertion in brinjal gives it resistance against fruit and shoot borer (FSB) for which a big volume of brinjal is ruined.
The institute got government approval to release four GMO brinjal varieties out of the nine.
When contacted, chairman of Supreme Seed Mohammed Masum told the FE that they have sought permission for Bt Brinjal seed production and marketing process which has been started on trial basis by BARI.
"We want access of Bt Brinjal here to cope with the time as we don't want to lag behind," he said.
"Supreme is now marketing 93 varieties of vegetables and Bt Brinjal could be a special one if we get chance to produce it," he added.
"If the private sector doesn't take the move to produce Bt Brinjal, it could create a gap between demand and supply in future," he said.
When asked about environmental and health risks of Bt Brinjal, the much-talked about issue, he said there is no 'substantial proof' on health hazard by Bt Brinjal.
Chief Operating Officer (COO) of GETCO Md Abdus Samad Mandal told the FE that his company submitted application to BARI on December 18 last year for approval.
"We have a MoU with BARI and under the agreement, we are producing and marketing hybrid tomato developed by the institute," he said.
"Considering our relation and also our expertise, we are expecting the approval," he said.
When asked on bio-safety measure, as instructed by the NCB, considering cultivation of Bt Brinjal, he said his company has initial infrastructures to produce and market Bt Brinjal.
Director (Research) at BARI Dr Md Khaled Sultan told the FE that as per the instruction of the agriculture ministry, NCB and BARC, they will take a decision.
However, the government approved Bt Brinjal in Bangladesh, but it has been banned in India and the Philippines amid massive protests from environmentalists, biodiversity experts and ordinary citizens there.
Bangladeshi experts also expressed their grave concern that GMO brinjal would affect biodiversity and could cause severe health hazards to humans, other animals and plants.
Multinational seed giant Monsanto and its Indian ally Mahyco, with the financial assistance of USAID, developed the BT brinjal seed.
However, Philippine government banned Bt Brinjal in its country at a time (October, 2013) when Bangladesh National Committee on Bio-Safety (NCB) gave approval to it in the country.