Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
the quest to promote Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton may suffer a serious setback with scientists from the us-based University of Arizona discovering that the pink bollworm
A recent draft measure by the new Brazilian government to control the country's rampant illegal transgenic soya trade has created a storm among those for and against genetically modified (gm) soya. There is widespread support as well as antagonism towards such varieties of the crop in Brazil (see: Down To …
are genetically modified (gm) crops threatening biodiversity? Not really, if the results of a small-scale trial being conducted in Denmark are to be trusted. The tests suggest that engineered sugar beet is more beneficial to wildlife than its conventional counterpart. In their experiments in Jutland from 1999 to 2001, ecologists …
Brazilian farmers in the state of Rio Grande do Sul were recently confronted by the prickly issue of genetically modified (gm) crops. Although the commercial planting of gm crops is officially banned in Brazil, about 80 per cent of Rio Grande do Sul's soya produce is said to have been …
Hundreds of hungry villagers in Zambia looted a warehouse storing genetically modified (gm) maize, whose distribution had been banned by the government. The desperate villagers assaulted the lone guard on duty and made away with more than 4000 bags of gm maize. They also took with them about 1000 sacks …
President and chief executive of Monsanto Co Hendrik Verfaillie resigned following a series of losses. Monsanto is one of the biggest agriculture and biotechnology companies in the world. Verfaillie, who has held the post for only two years, helped pioneer the company's role in the introduction of genetically modified crops …
Agriculture officials in the Philippines have approved a genetically modified insect-resistant corn type made by agribusiness multinational company Monsanto for commercial planting. The corn variety is known as YieldGard Corn Borer, and farmers in the country will start planting it soon. "This approval demonstrates that both Filipino farmers and government …
RIGHTS ISSUE: A patent on atta chakkis (flour mills). It sure was unexpected. But it's been granted. The latest victim of the patent rights regime is the Asian traditional knowledge of producing atta. The US patent office has given patent rights to Nebraska-based ConAgra Inc for the "method for producing …
Prodigene Inc, a Texas-based biotechnology company, is at the centre of a row after its soyabean produce was found to be contaminated with genetically engineered corn grown earlier in the same field. The us government has ordered the company to destroy 500,000 bushels of soyabean, estimated to be worth millions …
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 …
for the first time, a study has demonstrated that foreign genes from a genetically modified (gm) crop plant can migrate into weeds and make them stronger. The study was conducted by researchers from three us universities, including the Ohio State University. To conduct the study, the researchers used hybrid sunflowers …
A compromise has been made to stave off starvation. Although Zambia initially rejected genetically modified (gm) maize in food aid, it has now asked the World Food Programme (wfp) to buy the cheaper gm corn to feed its people. In June Zambian agriculture minister Mundia Sikatana had banned imports of …
ANDHRA Pradesh, the state where more than 500 farmers committed suicide after a failed crop in 1998, is now set to officially explore the commercial viability of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton. Earlier this year, in March, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) cleared the commercial use of Bt cotton. Mahyco-Monsanto …
Pollen from genetically modified (gm) crops can travel at least three kilometres to contaminate neighbouring crops, according to a study. The study, by researchers from Australia-based University of Adelaide, followed the spread of genes from a new herbicide-resistant variety of GM oilseed rape introduced in Australia two years ago. It …
The United Nations has been condemned by Guatemalan environmental activists for distributing genetically engineered corn to drought-hit farmers in the Central American nation through its World Food Programme (wfp). Environmental group Madre Selva said us laboratory tests on a sack of un-distributed corn it acquired in eastern Guatemala detected genetically …
the recent study conducted by China's Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences and global environmental group Greenpeace, which claimed that Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton causes damage to the environment, has no takers in the country. While Chinese biotechnology researchers have unanimously rejected most of the views expressed in the report, some …
