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 …
While it is widely agreed that an important goal of Panchayati Raj is to ensure better implementation of government's rural development programmes by ensuring participation of people, it is also important to assert that the Panchayati Raj insitutions at various levels (or three tiers) is certainly not restricted to blind …
If numbers were enough, the case of Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association, et al versus Monsanto would already be won. On March 29, family farmers—in America, this essentially means small farmers; in India it would be redundancy— along with seed dealers and international organic farming organisations, filed an unusual …
When you see the traditional maize of Mexico for the first time you are stunned. It is a cornucopia of unimagined colours and lustre: blue black, purple, translucent beige, pearly white, some deep burgundy, sun-kissed yellow or crushed mulberry, and countless other combinations. Many of the variegated corn varieties appear …
Environment Agency finds Monsanto, BP and Veolia liable for clean up after thousands of tonnes of cancer-causing chemicals - including PCBs, dioxins and Agent Orange derivatives - dumped in Welsh quarry.
Environment Agency finds Monsanto, BP and Veolia liable for clean up after thousands of tonnes of cancer-causing chemicals - including PCBs, dioxins and Agent Orange derivatives - dumped in Welsh quarry.
This report analyses major new developments regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in various regions around the world, including new evidence and testimony from Friends of the Earth International’s member groups. This 2011 edition focus particularly on pesticide use, increasing public and legal opposition to GMOs, and the biotech industry’s move …
THREE months after the country’s top science academies released their controversial report backing genetically modified (GM) crops and hastily withdrew it after it was panned by the scientific community, they are back with an updated report—and the verdict is that it is worse than the original. The Inter-Academy Report on …
THE Rajasthan government distributed hybrid maize seeds not suitable for agroclimatic conditions of the state to over 750,000 farmers. In doing so, it overlooked the recommendations of the Union ministry for agriculture and the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR). The seeds had failed to give desired yields during trials …
A leading Indian biochemist has urged the environment and forests ministry to lift the moratorium on Bt brinjal, the country's first genetically modified (GM) food crop developed using a technology supplied by the US multinational seed giant Monsanto. "The moratorium is not affecting the multinational companies but India's own scientists …
The Bt gene gave cotton farmers freedom from bollworm. Now the weedicide-resistant gene is likely to relieve them of weeds as well. Field trials at eight centres across the country
EUROPEANS are notoriously squeamish about genetically modified (GM) crops. In America, however, they reign supreme. Since farmers first planted GM soya in 1996, engineered crops have steadily conquered America
IT HAS been drafted several times in the past six years. The Union agriculture ministry is confident the seeds bill will make it through Parliament this winter session. But opposition parties, and some MPs from the ruling Congress Party, are getting ready to corner the ministry over legislation. The Seeds …
With Pakistan all set to allow commercial cultivation of Bt cotton, Indian seeds firms are planning to cash in on the growing demand for genetically-tweaked item for its field-trial purpose there. In the last six months alone, at least three Indian firms have got nod from the country's bio-tech regulator, …
Rajasthan signs agreements with seven biotech companies to restructure agriculture. Read this special report on the fundamental shift in the way farming operates in India by giving private companies access to the state’s research facilities to test and market their hybrid seeds and other technologies. In an unprecedented step, Rajasthan …
IN AN unprecedented step, Rajasthan has entered into memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with seven biotech seed firms, two of them among the largest in the world, to tone up its agriculture. It signals a fundamental shift in the way farming operates in India by giving private companies access to the …
A paper on giving away Indian agriculture on a platter to Monsanto through public-private partnerships. This brief paper on "Monsanto-ising Indian Agriculture" is seeking to throw light on the nature of this profiteering corporation from experiences from its operations the world over, on its operations in India and then focuses …
A shoddy inter-academy report on GM crops casts a shadow on the integrity and competence of Indian science, while a US expert finds approval for Bt brinjal deeply flawed according to this latest special report in Down to Earth. A shoddy inter-academy report on GM crops casts a shadow on …
When six of India’s top scientific academies were asked by Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh in March to assess the feasibility and safety of genetically modified (GM) crops and their regulation, it was expected their evaluation would help resolve the highly contentious question of growing GM food …
Memorandum to the Committee on Agriculture with views on “cultivation of genetically modified food crops – prospects and effects” presented at the sitting of the Committee on October 19, 2010.
