Nagpur: Two years after a special investigation team (SIT) to probe smuggling of illegal herbicide tolerant (HT) cotton seeds in the state was formed, the two-member team has prepared only a rough draft of its report. The SIT, which was formed in February, 2018, was supposed to submit its report …
Rarely does a large multinational company threaten to leave India. But that is exactly what Monsanto, the $40-billion American seed and agrochemical behemoth, did earlier this month. In December, the ministry of agriculture had issued an order to cap the prices of Bt cotton seeds, the genetically modified (GM) hybrid …
US seed giant Monsanto has threatened to pull its genetically modified crop technology from India if the government goes ahead with its plan to cut the company's royalty fees. Monsanto's joint venture firm in India said that it would be difficult to bring new technologies to India because it was …
The bitter war within the Indian seeds sector seems to have escalated further, with a section of the National Seed Association of India (NSAI), led by its executive director Kalyan B Goswami, urging Mahyco Monsanto Biotech to pay compensation to farmers who suffered losses due to pest, pink bollworm, that …
Rythu Sangam seeks availability of genetically-modified seed at affordable prices Upset with Monsanto allegedly fleecing farmers and making super profits in the form of royalty, the Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangam has decided to go on a warpath demanding that the Union government rein in multinational hybrid seed company and make …
Monsanto Co stepped up its defense of a widely used weed killer on Thursday by filing a lawsuit in California seeking to prevent glyphosate, the main ingredient in its Roundup herbicide, from being added to the state's list of known carcinogens. The seed and agrochemicals company said it filed the …
India's chief scientific adviser has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to decide the fate of the country's first genetically modified (GM) food crop, mustard, and a recent meeting suggests authorities may support commercialisation. While the path to a commercial launch is fraught with political opposition, allowing GM crops is critical …
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking court approval to withdraw registration of Dow Chemical Co's new herbicide Enlist Duo, as the agency studies new information regarding the product's impact on non-target plants, according to court documents filed late Tuesday. The EPA approved the herbicide for sale and use …
HYDERABAD: The Telangana government has approached the division bench of the Hyderabad High Court with an appeal for vacation of the stay granted by a single judge on the GO issued by it with regard to fixing Rs 50 as royalty per packet of Bt cotton seeds. On November 12 …
Twenty years ago, the first genetically modified (GM) crops were planted in the USA, alongside dazzling promises about this new technology. Two decades on, the promises are getting bigger and bigger, but GM crops are not delivering any of them. Not only was this technology supposed to make food and …
America's sugar beet growers are under siege as U.S. food companies increasingly shun genetically modified (GMO) crops. In the past seven years, the farmers - many in Minnesota, North Dakota, Michigan, and Idaho - have all switched to GMO seeds created by Monsanto Co and sold by others as they …
Malta should utilise EU opt-out and join Austria and Italy in declaring Malta a GMO-free zone, the Green Party said. Simon Galea, the Alternattiva Demokratika’s spokesperson for animal welfare and agriculture, held that apart from the introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the food chain, GMO crop cultivation pose …
France is to use a new European opt-out scheme to ensure a ban on the cultivation of genetically modified crops in the country remains in place, it said on Thursday. The European Union's largest grain grower and exporter has asked the European Commission, the EU executive, for France to be …
Monsanto said it would abide by Latvia's and Greece's requests under a new EU opt-out law to be excluded from its application to grow a genetically modified (GM) crop across the European Union, but accused them of ignoring science. Under a law signed in March individual countries can seek exclusion …
As Monsanto Co struggles to convince rival Syngenta AG to discuss a potential merger, the seed and agrochemical giant is also wooing U.S. farmers, aiming to ease concerns about the proposed tie-up that could prompt regulatory challenges. Company executives have been criss-crossing the U.S. heartland, meeting with soybean and corn …
ISLAMABAD: Cotton growers’ current woes with the genetically modified (GM) Bt seeds have been traced to an agreement that a national research institute signed with a multinational biotech seed producing company in 2006 over the head of Pakistan government, according to knowledgeable sources. “Dr Yousaf Zafar, the then director of …
European food safety officials found there was no need to widen buffer zones around genetically modified (GM) crops even though research shows that pollen from GM maize, which can travel kilometres further than previously thought. The buffer zones to protect vulnerable species, such as butterflies, have been part of heated …
NAGPUR: As Central Institute Research of Cotton Research (CICR) makes a second bid to develop an indigenous Bt cotton seed, the premier government agency already has 21 varieties of this genetically modified (GM) crop in its backyard. At present, US multinational Monsanto enjoys a monopoly in Bt cotton seed business. …
French Environment and Energy Minister Segolene Royal has asked garden shops to stop over-the-counter sales of Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller as part of a wider fight against pesticides seen as potentially harmful to humans. "France must be offensive on stopping pesticides," Royal told France 3 television on Sunday. She did not …
Tens of thousands of people marched in cities across the world on Saturday to protest against the American biotechnology giant Monsanto and its genetically modified crops and pesticides. The third annual March Against Monsanto – begun by the Occupy movement – was held in around 400 cities in more than …
In the light of rural distress caused by the drought and unseasonal rains, Maharashtra government has appealed to the seed companies to reduce price of Bt cotton seeds by `. 100 per bag from ` 930 per bag of 450 gram seeds to ` 830 per bag. However, the state …
