New Delhi: The Central government finds itself in a tight spot, as at least 13 states in the country have opposed the genetically modified crop, Bt Brinjal. The Chief Ministers of these 13 states have conveyed their decision to Centre.

 

Even though Environment and Forests Minister, Jairam Ramesh is busy in convincing the states, NGOs, Environmentalists and farmers about the positive side of Bt Brinjal, the road has become very difficult for the Centre to move ahead with Bt Brinjal in India.

 

The states that have already banned Bt Brinjal in their states are Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Other states such as Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan have also refused to grow Bt Brinjal in their states.

 

Bt Brinjal is a genetically modified version of the common vegetable. It is a trans-genic brinjal created by inserting a gene (Cry 1Ac) from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) into brinjal.

 

Bt Brinjal has been developed by Monsanto, which has scientifically proved that the crop is safe for human consumption. India has already developed one genetically modified crop - Bt Cotton despite stiff opposition from several groups.