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. …
new rules to test and monitor the safety of genetically modified organisms (gmos) were approved by the European parliament on February 14, 2001. The rules include provisions like granting a 10-year permit for gm crops to be grown and labelling of foodstuff. The legislation updates a 1990 law on gmo …
Seedlings of genetically modified ( gm ) potatoes are currently being housed at two greenhouses in Nairobi, Kenya. The potatoes have been genetically modified by scientists from the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute with the help of us -based Monsanto Life Sciences Company, private institutions and the us government. These potatoes …
twelve journalists, including me, visited Prince Charles' organic farm at Highgrove in Gloucestershire, England as part of training arranged by the the Reuters Foundation for environmental journalists. The 400 hectare estate we were bound for is called
for the first time, the us environmental protection agency ( usepa ) has cancelled a company's license to grow genetically modified ( gm ) crop. The license to grow StarLink, a gm corn, was cancelled after it was reported to be present in two popular edible brand products. The corn …
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. …
Heard of lean, trim genomes? According to Ken Shirasu and his colleagues at the John Innes centre in Norwich, Norfolk, genomes could possibly shed their flab. Around two-thirds of the deoxyribonucleic acid (dna) in some organisms is made up of repetitive sequences created by
madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have started large-scale evaluation of genetically modified Bacillus thuringiensis (b t ) cotton plants, despite the Union government still finalising the protocol for doing so. Both the states got consent from the genetic engineering approval committee. The decision for large-scale trials has been taken in the …
the Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Com-pany ( mahyco ) has been permitted to undertake large-scale field trials and generate environmental safety data on transgenic cotton in various agro-climatic regions of the country. This was stated in an official release from the Union ministry of environment and forests ( mef ). Permission …
the German government is trying to suspend commercial cultivation of genetically modified (gm) crops. It has started negotiating a temporary suspension with the country's biotech industry, which has shown readiness to co-operate. The time period would be used for extensive research into environmental consequences of growing gm crops. A deal …
At a recent session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (csd), scientists, non-governmental organisations (ngo), farmers and industrialists discussed various farming methods that can maximise agricultural production. The session was held at the un headquarters in New York. Scientists and ngo groups presented data in front of government …
in a late disclosure that triggered the wrath of environmentalists across Europe, the seed company Advanta issued a statement that farmers in Britain, France, Germany and Sweden were unwittingly growing genetically modified ( gm ) rapeseed crops. The seeds had apparently been contaminated by its gm variety in Canada from …
Over the years, the use of bio-technology ( bt ) has emerged as a useful means to control crop pests. Because bt produced toxins against the insects, it represents a potential transgenic solution for pest control. The Chinese have put in a lot of effort to develop a virus-resistant variety …
genetically modified ( gm ) canola plants, grown in secrecy for experimental purposes, have been carelessly dumped in an open commercial rubbish site, triggering off environmental concerns in the South Australian city of Mount Gambier. These herbicide-resistant "super weeds" are almost impossible to eradicate and Federal government experts have issued …
a strain of genetically modified (gm) rice has been created by scientists to combat Vitamin A deficiency, the main cause of blindness that effects as many as 250 million children the world over. Swiss biotechnologist Ingo Potrykus, who led the Vitamin A research, said his team was also completing work …
Scientists have genetically-engineered a variety of rice that could end vitamin A deficiency in developing countries. The deficiency results in blindness. Researchers at the International Rice Research Institute in Switzerland spliced three genes to make the rice rich in betacarotene, the source of vitamin A. However, the new crop, which …
the European Commission (eu) has said that us agriculturists still have a long way to go before they can win over Europeans on the issue of genetically-modified organisms ( gmo ), a European Commission (ec) official said. Tassos Haniotis, counsellor (agriculture), for the ec , said Europeans are still skittish …
in the recently-concluded World Trade Organisation meet in Seattle, usa, countries fought over a variety of trade-related issues, including genetically-modified (gm) foods. Ironically, a few days before the meet, one of the biggest manufacturers of gm foods, Monsanto, won an important court case in uk. Monsanto, a us-based biotech company, …
japanese traders have recently bought corn and soybeans grown exclusively from non-genetically modified (gm) seeds, at premiums roughly 40-50 per cent higher than those for mixed gm and gm crops. "Japanese food companies will start receiving non- gm corn deliveries from the us in November. The volume of imports of …
the European Union (eu) has supported the compulsory labelling of genetically-modified (gm) ingredients that contain even more than one per cent of gm organisms. But experts feel that the move does not allay the consumers' fear of gm food. The move was also sharply criticised by environmental campaigners, who say …
US researchers have pointed out that it may be possible to have plants in which disease-causing fungi could be fooled into committing suicide. This could be achieved either by spraying plants with substances that trigger fungal suicide or by putting in genes in the plants to make them powerful
