Chandigarh, Dec 19 : Scientists at the Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University at Hisar Saturday claimed to have developed Bt chickenpea (gram) on the lines of Bt cotton.

"This transgenic chickpea is resistant to an insect called pod borer (helicoverpa armigera) which is known to cause heavy losses in the yield of pods and boll-bearing crops. The insect-resistant transgenic chickpea carries a Bt gene sourced from a soil bacterium," HAU Vice Chancellor K. S. Khokhar said in a statement.    

Khokhar maintained that this was the maiden successful attempt of the university in Bt crop development.

"The university has filed for patent of the protocol used in development of the GM (genetically modified) crop," he said.

He said the Bt chickpea has been developed by a team of varsity biotechnologists Pushpa Kharb, V. K. Chowdhury and Parveen Batra.

The GM plants were growing successfully and had shown resistance to the pod borer under controlled environmental conditions, he said, adding that the new plant would be sent to state-run Regional Committee on Genetically Modified (RCGM) crops for large scale field trials and after its clearance, work on the production of seeds would be taken up.    

"According to recent government estimates, India imports 2-3 million tonnes of pulses every year to meet its domestic need. Bt chickpea would be a milestone in increasing production of pulses in the country," he added.    (IANS)