‘GM products are safe, 95% cotton in India is Bt’

Contrary to popular belief that Genetically Manipulated (GM) product – Bacillus Thuringiensis (BT) Cotton – is harmful to health, Dr Ved Kambhoj believes that GM products are safe.

Dr Ved Kambhoj is chairman of review committee of Genetic Manipulations (RCGM), New Delhi. He was in the city on Saturday to speak at a one-day national workshop on ‘Biotechnology: Its applications and bio-safety concerns’ organised by department of microbiology at Gujarat University (GU). 

“When BT Cotton was introduced in 2002, it was grown in only 40,000 hectares. Today, 95% of all cotton grown in India is BT,” said Kambhoj.

“There was a time when India was importing cotton. Today, it is exported from here courtesy the BT crop. Talks of BT cotton or GM products being harmful spread fast but there is need for extensive awareness drive to educate people on GM products,” he added.

As per Kambhoj, it is a myth that GM products harm soil in the long run. An extensive drive to educate people of its impact should be launched to eradicate such notion.

He emphasised that GM products fight destruction from pests in a better fashion. Experiments to make BT Mustard, BT Maize and BT rice are underway. Experiments are being done to have BT Rice with Vitamin A, said Kambhoj. Saturday’s workshop was also attended by experts like Dr Vibha Ahuja of GM Biotech Consortium India Limited, New Delhi and Dr Prakash Diwan, executive director of National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Hyderabad.