Transfer of Bollcure Technology: A Promising Botanical Biopesticide

The technology for the production of Bollcure- a promising botanical biopesticide for cotton bollworm developed by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) was transferred today by Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL) to Sri Biotech Laboratories India Pvt. Ltd., a Hyderabad based biopesticide and biofertilizer manufacturing company. The technology transfer ceremony was presided over by Shri. Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences.

Bollcure is a novel botanical biopesticide to restrict the growth of cotton bollworm, an insect pest which causes extensive damage to the cotton crops. The formulation developed at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi with support from the Department of Biotechnology, Govt of India, restricts the growth of the insect larvae (juvenile insect) in early stages of development thereby resulting in the death of the larvae thus preventing crop damage. A team of scientists led by Dr. Nutan Kaushik, Fellow and Area Convenor, Plant Biotechnology Division, TERI has put in years of efforts to bring out the Bollcure formulation, which is a Eucalyptus plant extract based biopesticide not only effective against cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera, a major insect pest of cotton but also other harmful insect pests of other economically important crops like pigeon pea, chick pea, tobacco, tomato, sunflower etc for which the laboratory trials are underway.

Sri Biotech, an ISO 9001:2000 certified company, is one of the leading agribiotechnology companies in India specialized in product-oriented research, development and manufacturing of organic and biological agricultural inputs. The company has successfully developed products and processes for disease and pest management based on indigenous R & D and has recently won the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) award for its outstanding contributions in the field of agricultural biotechnology.

The present technology is developed at TERI which is a premier research organization working towards technology innovations that are environment-friendly, natural resource conserving, and people-oriented. BCIL that has facilitated this technology transfer, is a company promoted by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India and set up by all India financial institutions including IDBI, ICICI, IFCI, etc. BCIL has been engaged in facilitating accelerated commercialization of biotechnology based products for more than a decade by establishing linkages among the various stake holders which includes industry, R & D institutions, Government, financial institutions and international agencies. Also, the company provides access to technologies, creating awareness about business opportunities, IPR protection, regulatory and biosafety requirements; drafting feasibility and detailed project reports; arranging financial support and manpower training and placement.

Source : Press Information Bureau
Date : November 13, 2007