Bangladesh holds Bt cotton field trials

Hyderabad-based mostly JK Agri Genetics Ltd, an arm of the JK Organisation, is collaborating with the Bangladesh federal government to keep area trials of genetically-modified cotton in the neighbouring nation.

“The Bangladesh federal government is conducting the area trials, which have been concluded for the initially time. The results are superior. Industry trials will be held for the next time this 12 months sometime concerning April and November,” said Gyanendra Shukla, President and Director of JK Agri Genetics, much better popularly acknowledged as JK Seeds.

The US Division of Agriculture (USDA), in a notice on the Bangladesh progress, said that Dhaka’s Cotton Enhancement Board (CDB) began trials of the genetically-modified or bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton with two varieties — JKCH 1947 Bt and JKCH 1950 Bt — which can resist bollworm and Slide armyworm in the plant.

In accordance to the USDA, the CDB received the Bt cotton varieties under the materials transfer arrangement from JK Seeds, an erstwhile division of JK Tyres and Industries Ltd.

“Though the initially time trials gave superior results, extra trials want to be completed. After the Bangladesh federal government is glad with the results, it will start out the deregulation course of action wherein farmers will be permitted to cultivate the Bt wide variety,” said Shukla. The CDB concluded the greenhouse trial of the cotton varieties efficiently on March four previous 12 months, and it obtained the permission of Bangladesh’s Nationwide Committee on Biosafety Clearance to begin confined area trials for the present-day crop 12 months (August 2020-July 2021), the USDA said.

Growing output

“We are accomplishing very little on our have. Nor are we engaged in any business activity in Bangladesh,” the JK Seeds President said, hinting that the Sheikh Hasina Wajed federal government is independently dealing with these actions, when his business is collaborating.

Bangladesh’s goal behind these trials is to build “efficient genetically-modified cotton” as component of its endeavours to boost cotton generation. Now, it satisfies about twenty five per cent of its raw cotton needs by way of imports from India.

The USDA has pegged Bangladesh’s 2020-21 crop at one.86 lakh bales (of 170 kg) on forty six,000 hectares.