New Delhi : With West Bengal and Orissa farmers and civil society organisations expressing stiff opposition against commercial introduction of genetically modified (GM) brinjal, also called Bt brinjal, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on January 18, 2010 said because of the sensitive nature of the issue, the government would go slow before granting permission to grow the crop. "People have raised safety concerns on Bt brinjal, we are going to arrive at a decision after talking into account all aspects," Ramesh said at the social sector Editors' meet in New Delhi.

After holding meetings in West Bengal and Orissa, Ramesh is stated to hold public consultation in Ahmedabad on January 19, 2010. The other proposed consultations would be held in Hyderabad (Jan.22), Bangalore (Jan.23) Nagpur (Jan'27) and Chandigarh (Jan.30).

Ramesh said his ministry would finalise stand on Bt brinjal by February 20. "We should not close the door on GM crops and assess it scientifically before arriving at a conclusion," the minister said.

After the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) gave green signal to the commercial introduction of Bt brinjal in October 2009, the environment and forests ministry decided to hold a series of public consultations on the issue to form a consensus.

GEAC had accepted the recommendation of a special committee set up to study the bio-safety data of Bt brinjal. The seed company Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co (Mahyco) is developing the food crop with technology assistance from US-based Mosanto. Brinjal is grown around 5.5 hectares in the country and is a critical cash crop for more than 1.4 million small and marginal farmers. West Bengal and Orissa produce around 30% and 11% respectively of the country's total brinjal output.