Want Central, State agencies to take action to stop cultivation, investigate spread of the illegal variety Genetically modified (GM) brinjal is being illegally grown in the Fatehabad district of Haryana, according to anti-GM activists. On Thursday, they demanded that Central and State regulatory agencies immediately take action to stop the …
Want Central, State agencies to take action to stop cultivation, investigate spread of the illegal variety Genetically modified (GM) brinjal is being illegally grown in the Fatehabad district of Haryana, according to anti-GM activists. On Thursday, they demanded that Central and State regulatory agencies immediately take action to stop the …
Seed companies rally behind MNC’s move to pull out weed killing technology Monsanto’s decision to withdraw Bollgard-II Roundup Ready Flex (RRF) has shocked the cottonseed industry. The firm has confirmed that it has filed an application with regulator GEAC seeking to withdraw the technology, which offers a third layer of …
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 …
NAGPUR: Just a few days before five private parties were to go ahead with field trials of genetically modified (GM) rice and chickpea (kabuli chana), the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP-Shiv Sena government in state has put it on hold. The orders were abruptly issued on May 21. The companies had got …
Farmers in Gazipur who were given the controversial Bt brinjal saplings have said they would no more cultivate the genetically engineered crop as the cultivation has ruined them. During a spot visit on Monday at four Bt brinjal fields in Gazipur, New Age found that Bt brinjal plants faced several …
The Karnataka government has banned Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company (Mahyco) from selling two popular Bt cotton seed varieties in the forthcoming 2014-15 crop year (July-June), following reports of lower crop yields. "The sales of Bt cotton hybrids by Mahyco company is banned until further orders in Karnataka," according to the …
Move follows crop failure in 7 districts that caused huge losses to cotton growers The Karnataka government has banned the sale of Mahyco’s BT and hybrid seeds in the state, following reports of their failure. According to a release here today, crops in seven districts had failed causing huge losses …
Encouraged by the government’s recent decision to re-allow field trials of 200 transgenic varieties of genetically modified (GM) seeds, biotechnology companies have readied big investment plans on research and development (R&D;) in this regard. The environment ministry’s Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) last week approved 11 varieties of GM seeds …
Karnataka state govt blacklists Mahyco and orders ban on its Bt cotton sales. Cotton is one of the important commercial crop in Karnataka. Farmers of the state are growing Bt cotton in a larger area in recent years. More than 95% of the cotton area is covered by Bt cotton. …
Thirty-five agricultural scientists, most of them associated with the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), on Tuesday mooted the continuation of field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops under their guidance, without a no-objection certificate (NoC) from the respective state governments. “Agriculture is a state subject, and state agricultural universities …
Decision to allow field trials of 200 crops The Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has approved field trials of genetically modified (GM) food crops on a conditional basis. Environment Minister M Veerappa Moily on Thursday said though the final call on GM crops would be taken by the …
Reversing his predecessor Jayanti Natarajan’s stance, M Veerappa Moily, Minister for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Environment, has approved the biotech regulator – Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC)’s year-old decision to permit field trials of genetically modified crops such as rice, wheat and maize among others. Expert panel “We have no …
Seed companies and agriculture research institutes in India can go ahead with scientific filed trials of different transgenic varieties of GM crops which had got clearance from the government's regulatory body - Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) — in March last year. A day after agriculture minister Sharad Pawar specified …
Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco) is seeking regulatory approvals for field trials in genetically modified (GM) rice and cotton lines that can grow under water-stressed and saline environments, besides requiring less nitrogen fertilisers. The ₹700-crore company has developed these new plants using proprietary genes belonging to Arcadia Biosciences, a privately-held …
Country's private seed companies sought government permission to produce and market genetically engineered (GE) variety Bt Brinjal, officials said. "Six Bangladeshi seed companies including Supreme Seed Company Ltd, GETCO Agro Vision Ltd and Lal Leer Seed Co Ltd, who are engaged in vegetables, rice and maize seed business, have sought …
New Delhi : In a signal that the stalemate over the policy on genetically modified (GM) crops could end soon with the change of guard at the ministry of environment and forests, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) is likely to take a call on over 50 applications for field …
Vikhe Patil wanted a public hearing to be held before clearing the trials Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan overruled reservations expressed by the State’s Agriculture Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil in clearing no objection certificates (NOC) for “confined” field trials of genetically modified crops in the state, The Hindu has learnt. …
Roundup herbicide, which is meant to kill farm weeds, “poses the risk of serious human health hazards including cancer”, says a new study by the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR). The study, authored by research scientists Jasmine George and Yogeshwer Shukla, speaks of the tumour-promoting potential of glyphosate, the …
Bangladesh became the first country in South Asia to approve commercial cultivation of transgenic Bt brinjal. National Committee on Biosafety (NCB), the highest regulatory body for GM crops in Bangladesh, officially approved the Bt brinjal varieties on 31 October. With this step, Bangladesh becomes the 29th country in the world …
A consortium of Indian environmental activists has expressed fears that genetically modified brinjal, not yet approved for cultivation in India, may slip into the country from Bangladesh where it is under assessment for possible commercial release. The Coalition for a GM-free India, a group of non-government organisations, has asked Delhi …
