Though there was strong opposition to it at the beginning, and some of the commitments made during the introduction – such as field-level monitoring, ethical marketing etc were not followed through – by and large its adoption was successful.

The country also started the cultivation of Bt Cotton for the first time in 2023.

Just a few months ago, it appeared that Bangladesh was close to approving the cultivation of Golden Rice as well.

However, the development faced a significant setback last month when a court in the Philippines ruled against the commercial production of Golden Rice due to safety concerns. This ruling also extended to Bt Brinjal.

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Consequently, the approval of Golden Rice in Bangladesh, which has been under regulatory review since November 2017, has become uncertain, while the cultivation of other GMO crops is also being questioned by environment and food safety activists.

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A study from Cornell University, based on a 2019 survey of Bt and non-Bt Brinjal farmers, documented the economic benefits of the four existing Bt eggplant varieties through the Bangladeshi market chain and their acceptability to farmers and consumers.

It said that on average, Bt Brinjal varieties yielded 19.6% more than non-Bt varieties and earned the growers 21.7% higher revenue.

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