While controversy has dogged the environmental release of genetically engineered (GE) mustard, other GE crops are being prepped at institutes across [India].

Banana: It is the world’s most widely consumed fruit after tomatoes, and India is its biggest grower. Since banana plantations across the world are at risk from a fungus, scientists are looking at ways to create resistant fruit. However, National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) at Mohali, Punjab, is using genetic engineering to fortify bananas with iron.

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Potato: The KJ66 potato hybrid was derived from the wild Mexican diploid potato and will be evaluated for resistance to the late blight pathogen, Phytophthora infestans – a type of mould that caused a string of potato famines in Britain in the 1840s.

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Cotton: Hyderabad-based Bioseed Research India, meanwhile, has sought permission for event selection trials of 10 GE cotton lines expressing the CRY2Ai gene that can make a plant toxic to the cotton bollworm.

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Rubber: A key raw material for the automobile industry, rubber is one of the crops being tweaked genetically. Rubber Research Institute of India, Kottayam, has obtained GEAC’s permission for event selection trials of two GE rubber lines, expressing an osmotin gene derived from tobacco to confer biotic/abiotic stress tolerance.

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