The Government today said that it has received several representations for ban of illegal cultivation of Herbicide Tolerant (HT) or BG-III cotton in the country. The Minister of State for Textiles, Ajay Tamta said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today that there are several media reports and complaints regarding the illegal or unauthorized cultivation of HT cotton in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat and Maharashtra. He said, Department of Biotechnology in the Ministry of Science and Technology has constituted a Field Inspection and Scientific Evaluation Committee (FISEC) to investigate the matter of illegal cultivation of HT cotton. The Minister also said that the cultivation of BG-III or HT cotton has not been approved by Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) of Ministry of Environment, Government of India.

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