Developers of Bt Brinjal didn't follow guidelines: Report

Hyderabad, Nov 1 (UNI) The Centre for Sustainable Agriculture today said an independent expert committee appointed by it had found that the developers of Bt Brinjals had not adhered to the guidelines of the DBT Committee for biosafety assessment of transgenic crops.

According to a release, the Committee further noted that with the existing data, it was not possible to arrive at any meaningful conclusions regarding the 'safety of the product' or 'its efficacy'.

Some tests, as laid down by the DBT, were not taken up in the safety evaluation or test protocols as per the specifications in the guidelines, the report said.

The Committee acknowledged that recent published evidence on the genes and vectors to evolve Bt Brinjal cautioned on the application of these materials in plants and plant products for human consumption.

Results of some toxicity tests showed that unless raw data was examined and full report seen, it was impossible to arrive at any meaningful conclusions on safety of the product.

On the agronomic trials, Bt Brinjal could not be compared with the best agronomic and pest management practices available, the committee observed adding that no trials had been taken up for at least three years.

The Committee observed that parameters prescribed in the DBT's permission letter were not always followed by the company.

''Data from the company is insufficient for any conclusion on the efficacy of Bt Brinjal. As per All India Coordinated Research Project on Vegetable Cultivation (AICRP) data, there is not much hope for Bt Brinjal'', the Committee noted.

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