Question : GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD CROPS

(a) the details of proposals approved by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) for field trials of Genetically Modified Food Crops including BT Rice, State-wise;

(b) the name of locations identified for field trial of such crops in various States;

(c) the time by which the field trial of such crops are likely to be completed;

(d) whether GEAC has approved any proposal from any of the company to start the cultivation of Bt Rice in the country;

(e) if so, the details thereof;

(f) whether any request has been received from any company for such scheme; and

(g) if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS (SHRI NAMO NARAIN MEENA)

(a & b) The GEAC has approved the conduct of field trials of Bt rice, Bt okra, Bt brinjal, transgenic groundnut, transgenic tomato, transgenic potato and transgenic tomato within the institutional research farms for the purpose of research and generation of biosafety data. The locations where the field trials have been permitted include Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh; Gaya, Bhagalpur, Samastipur and Hazaribagh in Bihar; Bokaro, Durg and Raipur in Chhattisgarh; Anand and Vadodara in Gujarat; Karnal in Haryana; Shimla in Himachal Pradesh; Ranchi in Jharkhand; Haveri, Dharwad and Bangalore in Karnataka; Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh; Jalna, Jalgaon and Rahuri in Maharashtra; Bhubaneshwar, Cuttack, Puri and Kendrapada in Orissa; Ludhiana in Punjab; Jaipur in Rajasthan; Coimbatore, Periyakilam, Dadurai, Killikulam and Palur in Tamil Nadu; Lucknow, Varanasi and Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh and Nadia, North 24 Pargana and Hooogli in West Bengal.

c) The field trials of GM crops are seasonal and would vary according to the agro climatic zone. In case of Kharif crops the field trials would be completed between October to December and for Rabi crops between February to April,

d) No, Sir.

e) Does not arise

f) No, Sir,

g) Does not arise.