Over 5,000 farmers would get genetically modified Bt brinjal seeds in the coming winter as part of the government's plan to scale up cultivation of biotech crops in the country.

Alongside, agro-research institutions concerned are fast-tracking field trials of three more biotech crops -- late blight resistant potato, Bt cotton and vitamin-A rich Golden Rice.

Officials and agriculture scientists present at a seminar in the capital said this, while Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury called upon all to give a further push to the country's agro-sector through best applications of cutting-edge technologies.

Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) and global agro-biotech monitor International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) jointly organised the seminar in BARC auditorium, marking the 20th anniversary of the commercialisation of biotech crops.

On the occasion, ISAAA also launched its latest report titled “Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2015” in presence of the minister.

ISAAA Global Coordinator Randy Hautea, BARC Executive Chairman Dr Abul Kalam Azad, and BARI Director General Dr Md Rafiqul Islam Mondal were present, while Additional Secretary to Ministry of Agriculture Nojmul Islam chaired the session.

Bangladesh introduced its first and so far the only biotech crop -- shoot and fruit borer insect resistant Bt brinjal -- in 2013. Over the last two years, fewer than 500 farmers could try it, in want of sufficient stock of seeds.

BARI DG Rafiqul Islam Mondal and its biotech division's chief scientific officer Dilafroza Khanam said yesterday that with the assistance of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), they would be able to reach out over 5,000 farmers with the seeds of the biotech brinjal. They have produced 875kg of Bt brinjal seeds in 2015-16. 

Dilafroza Khanam said apart from four Bt brinjal varieties released in 2013, three more GM brinjal varieties were now in the pipeline for regulatory approval while they were field-testing two more.

She added that field trials on biotech potato, cotton and rice were at the advanced stages now.

Referring to doubling of Bt brinjal acreage from 12 hectares in 2014 to 25 hectares in 2015, ISAAA credited the success to Bangladesh's political will, particularly from Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury.

It said, “Importantly, the seed [of Bt brinjal] is now being multiplied to meet the growing needs of substantially more farmers in 2016.”

In her speech, Matia Chowdhury said biotechnological interventions in agriculture happened for development of many stress-tolerant and disease and pest-resistant crop varieties. She sounded tough against propaganda that misinforms and misguides public about the benefits of frontier sciences in agriculture.

Matia urged scientists to help develop brown plant hopper (BPH) resistant rice. BPH is one of the most harmful pests of rice.

ISAAA Global Coordinator Randy Hautea, Founding Director of South Asia Biotechnology Centre Bhagirath Choudhary, Executive Director of Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre (MABIC) Dr Mahaletchumy Arujanan, and BARI CSO Dr Dilafroza Khanam presented four papers in the technical session.