Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of News Item titled "Chennai Citizen Connect: Captain Cotton Canal nearly choked due to garbage dumping appearing in the DT Next dated 11.05.2025". The application was registered suo-motu on the basis of the news item titled Chennai Citizen Connect: Captain Cotton …
MUMBAI: Admitting for the first time that genetically modified (GM)cotton may havehad an adverse impact on the state's farming community, the Maharashtra government has ordered a socio-economic study of the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton by the country's leading independent institutes. The survey will be carried out by the Tata Institute …
The Bt cotton in question is the Bikaneri Narma (BN) Bt (variety) and the Bt NHH-44 (Bt hybrid) touted as the “first indigenous public sector-bred GM crop in India” developed by the Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur (CICR) and University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad (UAS) along with Indian Agricultural …
MUMBAI: The state government is seriously considering switching from genetically modified (GM) cotton to more conventional cotton seeds. A plan to phase out and look for alternatives of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton is being chalked out by leading state agricultural universities with the help of private companies. The government has, …
The widespread use of Bt crops reduces the outbreaks of certain targeted pests and the need for insecticide use, leading to enhanced biocontrol of other potential pest species in the Bt crops; neighbouring non-Bt crops may also benefit.
Complaints that Mahyco is exploiting farmers, promoting black marketing and ignoring rules have led the Maharashtra government to call into question the agri biotechnology company’s licence to produce and supply the 73-51 seed variety of genetically modified (Bt) cotton in the state. The Director of Inputs and Quality Control (DIQC), …
Despite widespread adoption of genetically modified crops in many countries, heated controversies about their advantages and disadvantages continue. Especially for developing countries, there are concerns that genetically modified crops fail to benefit smallholder farmers and contribute to social and economic hardship. Many economic studies contradict this view, but most of …
Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co Ltd (Mahyco) has denied reports of short supply of the Bt cottonseed in Andhra Pradesh. Responding to reports of seed supply shortage and the Agriculture Minister, Mr Kanna Lakshminarayana, asking the firm to ensure enough supply of the seed, the Maharashtra-based company said that it promised …
Pakistan is ranked fourth among the top five cotton-producing countries in the world. About 70–80% of the cultivated area is under Bt cotton in Pakistan. Bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) is the major pest of cotton. It causes 31.73– 36.45% yield losses and these are reduced by heavy pesticide application. There has …
At a time when Bt cotton hybrids are ruling the roost, re-introducing non-Bt varieties may seem like a regressive step. But the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) here, in tandem with the agriculture department of Maharashtra government and Centrally-sponsored Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), is undertaking an experiment called high-density …
Now, consumers can make ‘informed choice’ on buying packaged food products Consumers in India can now make “informed choice” on whether they want to buy packaged food products that are genetically modified or contain genetically modified ingredients. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, in an extraordinary gazette notification, has made an …
Reports positive impact of hybrid variety on socio-economic development. To counter the spate of seriously damning anti-Bt cotton studies by some scientific and activists’ groups, a farmers’ organisation has now come up with an all-is-well report on the controversial GM variant of the popular cash crop. The study on the …
GM crops that make their own insecticide also deliver benefits for their conventional plant neighbours, a study in China has concluded. These strains seem to boost populations of natural pest-controlling predators, and this effect spills over to non-transgenic crops, the research found. Details of the work by a Chinese-French team …
New Delhi Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has criticised the government for its ‘failure’ to invest in public sector-initiated biotech research in agriculture, even as he stressed the need for scientific validation of the impact of Bt cotton on the sector. “There are serious scientific issues raised by responsible scientists …
A ban on the use of crops with transgenic traits is unscientific and India needs new technologies to raise farm yields Science and technology hold the key to developing low-input, high-output agriculture. The challenge is to use new technologies creatively and to make evidence-based decisions on the deployment of new …
The use of Bt cotton seeds has had a positive impact on the overall socio-economical development of the farmers in the country, including in Andhra Pradesh, over the last decade, says a study. Cotton production in Andhra Pradesh has increased 79.45 per cent per hectare with hybrid Bt cotton seeds, …
Agri-biotech and plant breeding company Krishidhan Seeds, a developer of commercial hybrid seeds for Indian agriculture market has announced the launch of Praja, a new variety of BT cotton seed. Praja is a Bollgard II variety of BT seed which is developed as an insect-resistant genetically modified seed having good …
The opinion on the success of second generation of genetically modified BT cotton variety, Bollgard 2, in the state is chiefly polarised. The new variety, resilient to two chief pests, has a large chunk of the state’s farmers taking it up with more than 85 per cent of acreage under …
Aren’t critics of genetically engineered food anti-science? Isn’t the debate over GMOs (genetically modified organisms) a spat between emotional but ignorant activists on one hand and rational GM-supporting scientists on the other? A new report released , “GMO Myths and Truths,” challenges these claims. The report presents a large body …
Citizen’s protest ICAR offer of India’s gene banks to MNCs - press release. This is the Citizen's letter to Dr Swapan Kumar Datta, DDG-Crop Science, Indian Council For Agricultural Research, New Delhi.
Biotech industry’s propaganda is false The only transgenic crop grown in India is Bt cotton developed by injecting a toxin from a soil bacterium called Bacillus Thuringiensis [Bt] into a cotton seed through a highly sophisticated process. When planted the seed produces a highly toxic cotton plant. Its roots, stem, …
