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 …
Karnataka HC dismisses petitions filed by UAS-D Vice-Chancellor and Registrar. The Karnataka High Court has ruled that there is a prima facie case for prosecuting the heads of the University of Agriculture Science, Dharwad (UAS-D), for signing agreements, allegedly in violation of the Biological Diversity (BD) Act, with a private …
In a significant ruling, the High Court on Friday dismissed a petition by Mahyco Monsanto and others seeking to quash criminal proceedings against them, University of Agriculture Sciences (UAS), Dharwad, and others who have been booked for bio-piracy while developing Bt brinjal. The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and Bangalore-based Karnataka …
In February 2010, during the Bangalore Public Hearing organised by then Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Mr. Jairam Ramesh on the question of according environmental clearance to B.t. Brinjal, India's first food GMO, Environment Support Group had raised the contention that the entire process by which the …
British environmental activist Mark Lynas, who once “demonised” geneticially modified crops and now campaigns for their cause, blames Jairam Ramesh for being “cynical” and “politically opportunist” and setting back India’s progress in biotechnology when he was environment minister. After years of being a central figure in Greenpeace’s anti-GM campaign, Lynas …
Celebrating the 67th year of Independence, India is slowly losing her seed sovereignty, even as environmentalists and farmers’ organisations fight in vain. “Dependence on foreign seeds is as good as selling our land. The government is blind while framing new laws,” Rajesh Krishnan, co-convenor, Coalition for Genetically Modified (GM) Free …
Rice lines incorporating NUE technology showed double-digit increase in key plant performance and yield measures Maharashtra-based seed company Mahyco Seeds today said it has bought technology from US-based agricultural technology company Arcadia Biosciences to develop Nitrogen Use Efficient (NUE) rice in India. This was under an agreement signed by both …
Anti-GM lobby alleged that Paroda has a clear case of conflict of interest because he was a part of organisations which don't only have representatives of seed companies Ahead of the presentation of the report of the high-powered Technical Expert Committee (TEC) on genetically modified (GM) crops to the Supreme …
Monsanto study says crop in four Gujarat districts showed susceptibility to pest The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) is learnt to have received a report confirming pink bollworm developing resistance to Bt cotton in four districts in Gujarat. The apex regulator of genetically modified (GM) crops is likely to consider …
Plea to remove Agriculture Ministry’s nominee from panel The Coalition for GM-free India has urged the Supreme Court to “remove” the Agriculture Ministry’s nominee from the Technical Expert Committee (TEC) on genetically modified crops on account of alleged ‘conflict of interest’ in the matter of a PIL filed on Genetically …
After cancelling its licence to sell 12 varieties of Bt cotton seeds last year, the State government has allowed Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco) to sell the seeds in the coming kharif season, subject to certain conditions. Confirming this, State agriculture commissioner Umakant Dangat told The Hindu on Monday that …
The Maharashtra government has lifted the ban on sale of Bt Cotton seeds supplied by Mahyco Seeds for the coming Kharif season "in public interest". The ban was imposed last year with the Agriculture Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil being upset over the company allegedly for "not furnishing its marketing plan and …
The National Biodiversity Authority has filed the country’s first ever bio-piracy criminal case against US agrochemicals giant Monsanto and its Indian partner Mahyco on the Bt brinjal issue in a Karnataka Court. “The court has taken cognisance and is expected to issue summons (to Mayco) soon,” Dr Balakrishna Pisupati, chairman …
A chargesheet has been filed against Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco), a subsidiary of Monsanto, the US agri business firm, for violating the bio-piracy laws in developing Bt Brinjal variety by using genes of local brinjal varieties without prior permission, according to Balakrishna Pasupati, chairman of National Biodiversity Authority. Pasupathi …
This paper describes the series of events which took place in India from the development of Bt brinjal to its initial approval by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC)a to the declaration of a moratorium on it by the Minister of Environment & Forests and events thereafter. It discusses the …
It will be a blow to Indian science, it says The Centre on Friday informed the Supreme Court that the recommendations of the Technical Expert Committee (TEC) seeking a 10-year moratorium on field trials on Genetically Modified (GM) crops will be highly detrimental and will not be in national interest. …
A Supreme Court-mandated committee of technical experts comprising scientists from top public research laboratories and academic institutions has recommended a ten-year moratorium on field trials of Bt transgenics in all food crops that are directly consumed by people.
National Biodiversity Authority chairman Dr Balakrishna Pisupati said the abundant biodiversity of India exists to be shared with public and private scientific research organisations, both inland and abroad. Speaking on the sidelines of the MoP-6, Dr Pisupati said, “While we agree that there has been unregulated use of our plants …
A group of researchers and industry writers have constructed a narrative of technological triumph for Bt cotton in India, based on an empirical record of superior performance compared to conventional seed. Counterclaims of Bt cotton failure are attributed to mutually reinforcing interactions among non-governmental organisations which avoid rigorous comparisons. However, …
New Delhi The Centre has sought details from the Maharashtra government about reasons for cancelling the licence of private seed firm Mahyco to sell Bt cotton seeds in the state. The Union Agriculture Ministry has also asked Mahyco to submit its views, a senior government official said. On August 8, …
‘Probe how Bt brinjal seed was allowed to be commercialised’ In a major setback to the proponents of genetically modified technology in farm crops, the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture on Thursday asked the government to stop all field trials and sought a bar on GM food crops (such as Bt. …
