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 …
The Environment Support Group, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) has called the entire process of the clearance given for Bt brinjal by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) illegal. The NGO has also demanded that Union Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh initiate a thorough investigation into the clearance and …
At a press conference here on 9 February, India's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, announced a "moratorium" on commercial release of what would have been India's first genetically modified food crop: varieties of eggplant, called brinjal in India, equipped with a protein from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) that's toxic to …
RASHME SEHGAL Did the arrival of US diplomat Nina Fedoroff, science and technology adviser to secretary of state Hillary Clinton in New Delhi on Monday evening force Union minister of environment Jairam Ramesh prepone his decision to put a moratorium on Bt Brinjal by a day? Ms Federoff has been …
Scientists and activists have welcomed the decision of Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh to defer commercialisation of Bt brinjal. Even Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company (Mahyco), which created the genetically modified vegetable, said it respects the verdict.
NEW DELHI: Bt brinjal will not make it to your dinner table for now. On Tuesday, the Environment Ministry announced its decision to impose a moratorium on the release of the transgenic brinjal hybrid developed by Mahyco, a subsidiary of global seed giant Monsanto. The moratorium will last
The humble vaingan has sparked a virtual war between those who oppose the introduction of the first genetically modified (GM) vegetable, and those who see it as a new horizon of hope for increasing brinjal output by over 50 per cent. The Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) Brinjal, a genetically modified version …
Government must handle GM foods with care Business Standard / New Delhi February 3, 2010, 0:37 IST The controversy generated by Bt brinjal, the first genetically modified (GM) food crop, has thrown up several important issues concerning GM crops, the role of regulators and of global corporate interests in agribusiness. …
RASHME SEHGAL With an agricultural crisis facing them on their face, state governments are not in the mood to antagonise their farmers and are saying no to Bt brinjal. Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar and even Tamil Nadu have banned the commercial cultivation of genetically modified Bt …
Kirtika Suneja & Kalpana Jain / New Delhi January 7, 2010, 0:25 IST Environment and Forests minister Jairam Ramesh will start public consultations from January 13 in seven different cities in India before deciding whether to give the final nod to commercialisation of genetically modified (Bt) brinjal.
A coalition of organizations opposed to genetically modified food in India has written to the minister of state for environment and forests seeking withdrawal of clearance given to Bt brinjal. The Coalition for GM-free India alleged the expert committee that cleared the genetically modified brinjal for commercial cultivation in the …
Sanjay Jog / Mumbai December 30, 2009, 0:39 IST Amid growing opposition to the human consumption of genetically-modified brinjal, also referred to as Bt brinjal, in various quarters, Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh will travel across the country in January to hold consultations. During his month-long tour, Ramesh would …
As agriculture universities transform local varieties into genetically modified Bt brinjal, questions of ownership arise Indians call it the brinjal. Other countries know it as the eggplant or aubergine. It is widely used the world over and every cuisine from the Chinese to the African has an encyclopaedia of recipes …
The Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company Limited, popularly known as Mahyco, has a remarkable history in many ways. It was set up in 1964 by a man with farming but no business experience, and at a time when public sector research institutions and government seed companies dominated Indian agriculture.
Lobbying for and against the GM food peaks in the run up to the final clearanceEven as it appears that brinjal is set to become the first genetically modified (GM) food to be approved for commercial production in India, lobbying against the final nod by the government has reached a …
WHAT, YOU may ask, is common between potatoes, tomatoes, brinjal, chilli, datura, tobacco and the deadly nightshade (belladonna)? They all belong to a plant family called Solanaceae. The Solanaceae family contains a number of important agricultural plants as well as many psychoactive and toxic plants. Solanaceae species are rich in …
Joseph Vackayil : The reported statement of KV Thomas, the minister of state for agriculture, that the agriculture ministry would not blindly oppose any new technology that helped increase food production and ensure food security, has kindled the hopes of Bt brinjal
In India the elongated, deep purple ovoid is considered one of the humblest of vegetables. The Bengalis call it begun which means a vegetable that has no virtue. But now the lowly brinjal has become the eye of the storm that is forcing you to sit up and take notice …
This latest report by Asia-Pacific Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology provides updated statistics on Bt-cotton and highlights newer issues related to technology, production, economic, social and environmental impacts of Bt cotton in India. The first Status Report on Bt Cotton in India was published in 2006, when 40 Bt hybrids were …
