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 …
Genetically modified crops can help solve international food crisis faced by many countries including Pakistan, said US Special Advisor on Science and Technology Dr Nina V Fedoroff on Thursday. Talking to reporters at a local hotel, Fedoroff said the international community had ignored important issues like energy and food in …
P.M. Bhargava The proposed bill to create such an authority is entirely industry-centric. The proposal to create a National Biotechnology Regulatory Authority (NBRA), for which a draft bill is now in circulation, is being moved in an unprofessional manner by the Government of India. The bill is driven by the …
Meena Menon MUMBAI: The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) has published information on biosafety studies of Bt brinjal, developed by MAHYCO, on its official website. The data in eight volumes, runs into more than 1,100 pages. Sources in the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) confirmed that it was the complete data …
Hasan Suroor A "Marie Antoinette moment'? Or much ado about nothing? Either way it had all the trappings of a perfect media storm with Prince Charles bang at the centre of it. He was dubbed a "modern Marie Antoinette' after his remarks in a newspaper interview recently were interpreted as …
According to a study, Madhya Pradesh farmers exposed to Bt cotton suffered from respiratory problems Chennai RENOWNED organic farm scientist Dr G Nammalwar here on Monday cautioned the farmers against cultivating Bt Cotton which had the potential to turn their 1.75 lakh acres of fertile land across Tamil Nadu unproductive …
By Vandana Shiva Citizens have a right to health and environmental safety. Hence the existing biosafety law needs to be upheld. While the country has been preoccupied with the Indo-US nuclear deal, there is indifference to the US-India agricultural deal, under which India is being pressurised to dismantle her biosafety …
London,Aug. 17: A senior minister in the Labour government has attacked Prince Charles for his criticism of genetically-modified crops. The Prince of Wales had claimed earlier this week that firms developing genetically-modified crops risked environmental disaster. Environment minister Phil Woolas challenged the prince to produce the evidence to back up …
Chandigarh: The Haryana State Agriculture Department has decided to distribute 8,050 mini-kits of hybrid varieties of seeds of pulses and oilseeds to farmers under the Integrated Scheme of Oilseeds, Pulses, Oil Palm and Maize (ISOPOM) during Kharif-2008 to encourage them to cultivate these crops. Announcing this here on Saturday, a …
Cotton hybrids expressing various endotoxins of B. thruringiensis, per se fitting into genetic or host-plant resistance and biological tools of integrated pest management (IPM) have given a new dimension and impetus to the IPM philosophy that aims to reduce the massive reliance on insecticides for pest management on the conventional …
Six outstanding issues sum up just how faulty and perfunctory the Regulator's approach to bio-safety has been. Even the current inadequate norms for safety testing have NOT been applied to GM food crops like Bt okra and Bt brinjal before they were field tested. A. In No case has there …
This paper analyzes a period of contention about Genetically Modified (GM) crops, specifically BT cotton, in India over the last six years. In this paper aim to further understanding of the role of transnational activist networks (TANs) in helping to construct new forms of interest representation in the developing world. …
The food safety, GM foods and pre-clinical toxicity testing of drugs are the important activities of FDTRC. The Centre also investigates the food borne disease outbreaks and identifies the causative factors.
Tomato, cabbage, and garden egg are important crops for small-scale farmers and migrants in the rural and peri-urban areas of Ghana. Genetic modification has the potential to alleviate poverty through combating yield losses from pests and diseases in these crops, while reducing health risks from application of hazardous chemicals. This …
This publication lists and briefly details the regulatory instruments comprising laws/acts/decrees/regulations/rules related to biosafety of products of biotechnology for agriculture and food existing in 39 countries of Asia and the Pacific. Besides, additional chapters have been included to introduce the readers to recent developments in agricultural biotechnology in the region, …
More often than not, discussions about India's policy on genetically modified (GM) crops result in the point being made about how slow the entire process of clearances by the Genetic Engineering Approvals Committee (GEAC) is. One of the reasons for this is that the GEAC does not give credit to …
Unlike traditional breeding techniques, whereby hybrids are produced by transferring genes within varieties belonging to the same species, genetically modified crops involve transfer of genes across species. Thus in the case of Bt cotton, a gene of a soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), is inserted into cotton varieties to give …
A report riles industrial farming nations and agribusiness The us, Canada and Australia have rejected an International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (iaastd), which believes there should be a shift in practising agriculture, to a
the verdict is finally out. Modern agricultural practices, espoused by the industrial farming model, and genetically modified crops are not good for the planet and its inhabitants, says the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development report. What lends weight to the conclusions of the report is …
