In this paper, assess the impacts of genetically modified eggplant, Bt brinjal, on economic and health outcomes in Bangladesh using a cluster randomized controlled design. Bt brinjal cultivation reduces the cost of pesticide use by 47 percent. This is driven by reductions in the use of pesticides with adverse ecological …
Though commercial release of genetically modified brinjal has been put on hold, documents made public by the government suggest a proposed study to assess the vegetable's need and possible socio-economic impact on farmers was never done. Activists and farmers stage a protest against the commercialisation of genetically modified BT Brinjal …
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 …
Sanjeeb Mukherjee : Even as he moved to put Bt brinjal in cold storage, the environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh admitted that he is all for Bt cotton. But if we consider all the good that Bt cotton has wrought, the idea of setting aside India
In placing a moratorium on the release of Bt brinjal till independent scientific studies establish its safety, the Union Environment Ministry has quite rightly addressed both scientific concerns and public opinion. After the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee cleared Bt brinjal in October 2009, the country witnessed widespread protests, some of …
There are too many loose ends in the Union environment minister's decision to reject the apex Genetic Engineering Approval Committee's clearance after years of testing, to genetically modified (Bt) brinjal. One trusts the months ahead will see a process put in place that ensures such an outcome isn't repeated. There …
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 …
The moratorium should be seen as something that will encourage science to succeed. The Environment Ministry's decision to place a moratorium on commercialisation of India's first food crop, the genetically-modified brinjal (Bt Brinjal, containing a gene from the soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis that repels select pests) comes as no surprise …
Dhiraj Nayyar : Jairam Ramesh has spent the better part of his 8-plus months in office as the environment minister trying to break away from the traditionalist/conservative mould that his ministry has acquired over the years. He committed himself to the PM
Bt brinjal is on indefinite hold because the Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, has said there are many questions still to be answered. But the fact is there are many questions the minister needs to answer. We look at the Bt brinjal story from the day Ramesh took charge as Environment …
The minister of environment and forests Jairam Ramesh, has finally responded positively to the storm of protests, and called off the government's decision to introduce the privately developed Bt brinjal seed for commercial cultivation. This is not for want of trying as a government panel had earlier decided to introduce …
Bt Brinjal, the first genetically modified food crop, has generated much debate in India. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) received strong views both in favour of and against the commercialization of Bt Brinjal in India from various stakeholders. In response, the Ministry decided to hold nationwide public consultations …
RASHME SEHGAL The ordinary brinjal has won the day. Mounting pressure forced Union forests and environment minister Jairam Ramesh to revoke the decision of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee on Tuesday and defer commercial cultivation of what could have been India's first genetically modified vegetable crop. "There is no over-riding …
THE APPROVAL of Bt Brinjal by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) has exposed the unscientific basis on which genetically-engineered crops are being commercialised, and it raises questions about the entire bio-safety process. The admission by the chair of the Expert Committee-II (EC-II), Dr Arjula Reddy, that Union agriculture minister …
NEW DELHI: India needs an independent biotechnology regulator and a transparent testing system, according to Union Minister of State for Environment Jairam Ramesh, who declared a moratorium on Bt brinjal on Tuesday. As a first step in the transparency process, he said the Genetic Engineering Approvals Committee (GEAC), which had …
