Bt brinjal is a genetically modified crop. Professor Sharif-Al-Rafi of the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding at Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) has given advice on growing it. "Brinjal is a very important crop in Bangladesh. Because the country's weather suits it, attacks by the shoot and fruit borer are common, and every year a great deal of brinjal is lost to this pest," he said.

"This pest is one of the main risks to brinjal farming in Bangladesh. Farmers usually use pesticides against it, but these can mix with water, food or the environment and create health risks for people and livestock. That is where the idea of Bt brinjal came from," the professor said.

He added that the shoot and fruit borer mainly damages brinjal at the larval stage, and that growing Bt brinjal will reduce the unnecessary use of pesticides.

Professor Sharif-Al-Rafi said the term Bt comes from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which acts as a natural insecticide against insects such as borers. When the shoot and fruit borer or its larvae ingest the bacterium, the gizzard is damaged, the gut of the insect or larva is destroyed and it dies. Scientists inserted that particular gene from the bacterium into brinjal, so the plant is protected from insect attack. Although Bt brinjal was highly controversial at first, he said it is now a very promising crop for Bangladesh, and besides cutting pesticide use it will reduce farmers' extra costs.

"Bt brinjal is essentially a genetically modified brinjal that carries a gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which protects it from insect attack. That is why it is named after that gene," he said.

On public perceptions, he said: "There is a misconception about Bt brinjal. Many people think that since eating the brinjal harms the insect, it may harm people too. Pesticides harm insects and they harm people as well. But the bacterial gene used in Bt brinjal only harms the shoot and fruit borer of that brinjal. The gene does no harm to the human gut. Bt brinjal needs no special care; it is grown just like ordinary brinjal."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.