New Delhi (Sputnik) — The Telangana Rythu Sangham, a farmers association in the state of Telangana, demanded governmental action alleging illegal proliferation of Bollgard-II and Bt3 (HT) that did not enjoy the approval of the country's GM food regulator Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC).
"Seeds with third generation Bt technology are marketed in the State. This technology has no clearance from the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC)," P Janga Reddy, President, Telangana Rythu Sangham said.
"It is a matter of grave concern that some seed companies while suppressing their real intent of profiteering, are attempting to illegally incorporate unauthorized and unapproved herbicide-tolerant technologies into their seeds," a Monsanto spokesperson told the BusinessLine.
Earlier this month, Telangana's Agriculture Secretary C Parthasarathi had sounded alarm over Monsanto's hazardous illegal Bt cotton trait.
"Intentionally or unintentionally, the unapproved RRF trait got released into the field/environment by the unknown entities/agencies and now it is expected to be found in the cotton crop raised by farmers in a considerable area and also it is spreading rapidly and contaminating the other cotton hybrids, causing a threat to the biological resources,'' C Parthasarathi warned the farmers and administration in his letter.
