Bt brinjal, or the country’s first genetically modified food crop, is unlikely to be available for commercial cultivation before late next year, and still requires mandatory clearances from three government ministries, say key officials involved with the regulatory process. On Wednesday, the genetic engineering approval committee (GEAC), a biotechnology regulatory authority ruled that genetically modified, or GM, brinjal was safe for commercial cultivation. This was after a GEAC subcommittee, constituted on the Supreme Court’s directive, reviewed the scientific data from two-year-long field trials in farmers’ fields.