Almost a decade after it was developed, genetically modified papaya is all set to make its debut in India, assisting small farmers in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Multinational agro-biotech firm Monsanto has now transferred its proprietary GM papaya technology to Tamil Nadu Agriculture University. In turn, the varsity will develop low-cost varieties for Indian farmers.

The company claims that the transfer, which took place in front of Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday – does not involve any royalty fee and the farmers will get the GM papaya seeds at an affordable price. “But it is too early to decide on the price,” said Monsanto India Chairman Shekhar Natarajan.

“Since papaya seed yields fruit for two years, it will take at least four years before the GM papaya is ready for the farmers,” said Dr P Balasubramanian, Director, Centre for Plant Molecular Biology at TNAU. Incidentally, the same TNAU centre is carrying out field trials for GM brinjal in two locations. The genetically engineered variety will be resistant to Papaya Ring Spot Virus (PRSV) that causes widespread damage in papaya. “The virus can reduce the yield by 30-70 per cent, depending on other factors,” he said, adding that on an average, an acre of papaya plant could yield 100 tonnes of fruits in two years.

According to the National Horticulture Board, India produces 250 lakh quintals of papaya annually. Increased resistance to PRSV will add to 25 per cent additional yield. “The traditional strategies to counter this virus have met with limited success so far,” said Dr Clive James, Chairman of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA). The ISAAA is a global lobby group for the agri-biotech companies. Dr James  was present during the technology transfer. 

Besides the two southern states, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Orissa and Gujarat are other major papaya producing states, which are likely to be benefited. Monsanto’s GM papaya is the first genetically engineered fruit crop cleared by the US department of agriculture and was a success in Hawaii. However, when the company tried to cultivate the GM papaya in Philippines, stiff resistance came from the anti-GM lobby. Transgenic papaya contains a gene from the same virus that helps the plant thwart the virus attack. “In a way, it is similar to the way vaccines immunise human beings against different diseases. The coat protein gene provides the resistance,” explained Dr Balasubramanian.