CEOs need to accelerate their action plans to safeguard the production of commodities critical to the global population and economy as heat stress and drought risk rise around the world, according to PwC's report, Climate Risks to Nine Key Commodities: Protecting People and Prosperity, published. The report, which analysed nine …
scientists have genetically engineered maize plants to produce a protein that can provide protection against the hepatitis b virus. The feat is significant
After a protracted debate over genetically modified (gm) maize in the uk, the British government is all set to approve the commercial production of the transgenic crop. The government advisers, however, plan to impose strict regulations on gm maize and ban commercial gm sugar beet and oilseed rape, since tests …
Maize is undeniably humanity's greatest, and the first, feat of genetic engineering. But the success story cannot be attributed to modern humans. A recent research shows that it is only due to the selective breeding efforts of ancient Americans that maize today has its huge ears, each packed with firmly …
October 16, 2003 saw the release in the uk of Farm Scale Evaluations of GM Crops , the largest-ever field trials to be hitherto held. Commissioned by the uk government in 1999, the crops on trial were Bayer's oilseed rape, maize and fodder beet, and Monsanto's sugar beet. According to …
Notwithstanding the resounding failure of its Bt cotton, Monsanto has begun to introduce another genetically modified (gm) crop into India, its proprietary maize variety called Roundup Ready corn. The government's Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation has given permission for Monsanto to bring in breeding material and start work. It clearly …
nearly one-fifth of the farmers in the us midwest are ignoring federal rules about how much transgenic maize they should plant, indicates a recent study. Experts fear this non-compliance could encourage pests to develop resistance to the insecticide produced by the crop. Some transgenic maize contains a gene from the …
on june 25, the police opened fire on a crowd of restive farmers desperate to purchase subsidised maize seeds from a distribution centre in Andhra Pradesh's (ap) Ranga Reddy district. The toll: one farmer dead and more than 100 injured. Even before protests against the police action had died down, …
with temperatures increasing and rainfall patterns changing, a new study paints a grim food security scenario for small landholders engaged in rainfed maize farming in Africa and Latin America. The research, by Columbia-based Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical and Kenya-based International Livestock Research Institute (ilri), predicts an aggregate decline of …
the polarised and often bitter global debate over genetically modified (gm) food, sparked off by last month's refusal by some nations in southern Africa to accept international donations of gm maize, even cast its shadow on the World Summit on Sustainable Development at Johannesburg. Though the countries, notably Zimbabwe, eventually …
a recent report has blamed the International Monetary Fund (imf) and World Bank for putting pressure on Malawi, a southern African nation, to sell 28,000 metric tonnes (mt) of maize to Kenya, resulting in widespread famine in the country. The report has been released by uk-based Jubilee Research Foundation, which …
Over the next 50 years, harvests of staple crops like rice, maize and wheat may be reduced by one- third due to global warming. This has been revealed by a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report published recently. The document brings to the fore the fact that rising temperature adversely …
genetically modified maize can restrain the growth of caterpillars in the fields, shows recent studies conducted in North America's grain belt. The studies are the first to show damaging ecological effects of Bt maize in and around the fields. Diane Stanley-Horn of the University of Guelph, Ontario, found that monarch …
Pollen grains of genetically modified corn (Bt Corn), are proving to be fatal for the larvae of monarch butterflies ( Danaus plexippus ). According to a latest study conducted by John Obrycki of the Iowa State University, monarch butterflies die when they eat the corn pollen, which contains bacterial toxins. …
For the first time, genetically-modified grain has been grown commercially in South Africa and will be sold in the market mixed with other grains, a leading seed-seller said. "Up to 50,000 hectares of genetically-modified maize has been planted this season and will be sold in the commercial market,' he said. …
france has decided to suspend a judgement on whether it will allow the planting of genetically-altered corn, dashing industry hopes that the French market would soon be open to the products. France's Council of State, which monitors administrative law, had been due to decide in December whether to let Swiss …
it could be a while before genetically engineered products gain worldwide acceptance. The Switzerland-based multinational Ciba-Geigy's bid to market its genetically engineered maize suffered a setback when the issue, which was brought up at a meeting of European Union (eu) environment ministers in Luxembourg recently, did not secure majority approval. …
The country's remote north-western province could serve as a model for Africa's poverty-ridden, famine-stricken areas. The province has been transformed from a food-deficit to a food-surplus area in the past 10 years. The soil in the province has a high acid content. Traditionally, people have grown cassava, maize, millet, sorghum …
IN WHAT could be a dream come true for farmers, especially from poor countries, scientists have announced that they are just a, step away from creating a maize plant that can be planted year after year without using a new seed. Five years and a study of 50,000 plants later, …
Zambia's plans to bring in 1 million tonnes of maize to avoid famine after the 1991-92 southern African drought has come a cropper because the country had no organisation to receive the imported material, according to the Natural Resource Institute which helped manage the imports. Maize shipped from the Americas …
