The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
The National Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) has raised concern over the increasing circulation of genetically-modified crops in the country without appropriate monitoring by the National Biotechnology Management Agency (NBMA). The religious body had raised the concern following several complaints it received on the possible dangers of the unguarded release of GMOs …
New report shows how industry managed to sweep harmful effects of pesticides and genetic engineering under the carpet. Eleven out of 12 EU pesticide and GMO risk assessment methods studied were developed or promoted by industry, a new report from Pesticide Action Network (PAN) shows. The report says that harmful …
Stakeholders are urging caution in the Rwanda’s quest to adopt genetically modified organism technology, with some proposing that other options for increasing agricultural productivity be exhausted before reverting to GMO’s. Like many countries in East Africa, Rwanda has been apprehensive about introducing GMOs over fears that their impact on the …
Air pollution also played its bit in keeping the environment ministry busy this year. Delhi was faced with a complex set of meteorological factors in early November, when pollution levels peaked, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The Union environment ministry grappled with controversies triggered by its notification banning …
Volume 7 of the Series compiles the OECD consensus documents for use in environmental risk assessment of transgenic organisms (biosafety) issued in 2016 and 2017. The first two chapters cover the biology of plant species (sorghum and tomato) and include elements of taxonomy, centres of origin, reproductive biology, genetics, outcrossing, …
After an afternoon drizzle, Ephraim Muhereza carefully scouts his three-acre banana plantation in Gayaza, Wakiso district, plucking male buds from trees. This will stop his plants from catching the notorious banana bacterial wilt, which has destroyed many farms in Uganda. “We have been told that to reduce the spread of …
In 2000, farmers in Burkina Faso, Africa’s top cotton grower, were desperate. Their cotton fetched top prices because its high-quality fibre lent a luxurious sheen to clothing and bedsheets. But pests , bollworms were threatening the crop. Even when you dropped the bollworm larvae into a bucket of poison, farmers …
A Soil Association report, reveals how genetically modified (GM) cotton grew to almost obliterate all other cotton production in India, and how the promised GM success rapidly turned to failure, with disastrous, even lethal, results for some of the world’s poorest farmers. The report, launched at the Textile Exchange Sustainability …
Experts have condemned an alleged move by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, (IITA) and Zurich, Switzerland-based ETHZ Laboratories to carry out confined field trial of genetically modified cassava in Nigeria. They alleged that the application, submitted by both agencies to the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) was a subtle …
Raising doubts about government claims that production of cotton has increased post commercialisation of Bt cotton, a parliamentary panel has asked the union ministry of environment and forest to undertake a comprehensive study to bring out clarity in the matter. The parliamentary standing committee on science & technology and environment …
The government had assured the court that there would be no commercial release of genetically modified seeds till the views of the public were collected and placed before the appraisal committee. The hearing was conducted on the basis of a petition filed by activist Aruna Rodrigues, who had alleged that …
The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith 1797) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is the most important corn pest in South America. Larvae feed mostly on leaves, but also ears when population densities are high. This pest has been historically controlled with insecticide applications, but many cases of resistance have limited their …
Mustard oil extracted from the seeds of the genetically modified mustard plant is safe to consume, says Prof M Sivanandham, an expert biotechnologist. The oil you get out of mustard has no connection to the gene, Sivanandham, a former researcher at the New York Medical College, who has taught biotechnology …
Introducing genes for herbicide resistance into a crop permits it to be sprayed with weedkiller that really does then kill nothing but weeds. But that works only until the weeds themselves develop resistance to the poison. One way this can happen is through crossbreeding with the crop originally protected—a risk …
Anti-GM activists today asked Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan to reject the application seeking commercialisation of genetically-modified mustard, saying there is no "scientific, ethical and socio-economic" justification for it. "We urge you to reject this application in toto, keeping in mind the present and future interest of our nation," the 'Coalition …
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests, has decided to seek clarifications from Union Agriculture Minister and also ask the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) to do a comparative analysis of the nutritional values of GM and non-GM sorghum. EVEN AS the controversy over GM Mustard …
Far from real: The push for GM is coming from commercial food industry, not ordinary homes, say activists. Regulator cleared the variety on May 12 Union Minister for Environment Harsh Vardhan will have a fresh consultation with environmental groups, scientists, and farmers’ bodies before taking a call on the release …
Concerns over GM mustard impacting pollination and honey production have no empirical basis Pollinators such as honeybees play a vital role in our agricultural production systems. Roughly a quarter of the world’s food is estimated to come from transfer of pollen, from the male to female organs of the flowers …
A new report released by PG Economics has found that over the last 20 years, crop biotechnology has significantly reduced agriculture’s environmental impact and stimulated economic growth in the 26 countries where the technology is used. The innovative agricultural technology has contributed to preserving the earth’s natural resources while allowing …
