Support Bt Brinjal

Brinjal also known as eggplant is a commonly used vegetable in India. It is often described as a poor man’s vegetable because it is popular among small-scale farmers and low income consumers.

But in spite of its popularity among small and resource-poor farmers, brinjal cultivation is often input intensive, especially for insecticide applications. Brinjal is prone to attack from insect,pests and diseases, the most serious and destructive of which is the fruit and shoot borer (FSB) Leucinodes orbonalis. FSB feeds predominantly on brinjal and is prevalent in all brinjal producing states. It poses a serious problem because of its high reproductive potential. FSB larvae bore into tender shoots and fruits, retarding plant growth, making the fruits unsuitable for the market and unfit for human consumption. Fruit damage as high as 95% and losses of up to 70% in commercial plantings have been reported.

Farmers resort to frequent insecticide applications and biological control measures to counter the threat of FSB. However, since FSB larvae are concealed within shoots and fruits, the pest normally escapes insecticide sprays. In addition to the financial cost associated with indiscriminate insecticide applications and its negative effects on the environment, high pesticide residues in vegetables and fruits pose serious risk to consumers’ health and safety.FSB-resistant brinjal or Bt brinjal was developed to counter this.

Rigorous scientific tests, including toxicity and allergenicity evaluation as well as nutritional

studies on rabbits, rats, carps, goats, broiler chickens and dairy cows, have confirmed that Bt

brinjal is as safe as its non-Bt counterparts as well as on beneficial insects such as aphids, leafhoppers, spiders and lady beetles.Bt brinjal was found to be effective against FSB,

with 98% insect mortality in Bt brinjal shoots and 100% in fruits compared to less than 30%

mortality in non-Bt counterparts.

Bt brinjal has enormous potential to benefit both farmers and consumers. Results of studies

submitted to regulatory authorities in India confirm that Bt brinjal offers the opportunity to

provide effective control against fruit and shoot borer, and decrease insecticide input by as much

as 80%. Bt brinjal also yields significantly more marketable fruit than conventional hybrids and

open-pollinated varieties. so in my view, we should allow Bt brinjal into our fields.The fact less arguments against it is merely a ploy by some to derive benefit by opposing benefit.

So,we should all support introduction of Bt brijal,so as to safeguard our food security.