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 …
This publication includes statistics on the adoption of single and multiple gene Bt cotton hybrids; adoption of Bt cotton by major states in India as well as number of farmers adopting Bt cotton hybrids from 2002 to 2010.
India is a country mainly relied upon agriculture and for boosting up agricultural output availability of good quality of seeds to farmers is inevitable. To regulate the seed sector the Parliament has enacted the Seed Act 1966. Due to recent innovations in the seed sector, entry of private industry and …
Cotton has been the biggest success story in Indian agriculture since the Green Revolution. In a country struggling with stagnant yields in most crops, cotton has been the one bright spot. Production has soared from 13.6 million bales (each bale is 170 kg) in 2002-03 to 31.2 million bales in …
Why have yields stagnated? Yield stagnation at an average of 520 kg fibre per hectare over the past five years could be because of several factors, including bad weather and poor agronomic management. But over 800 Bt cotton hybrids developed by private seed companies have been approved for commercial cultivation …
While the Centre on Monday said the area under Bt cotton is estimated to have expanded to 90 per cent of the total area sown under cotton in 2010-11, several non-government organisations alleged that the government had deliberately promoted the genetically-modified seed as part of a strategy. According to the …
Even as the government remains undecided over the commercial release of Bt brinjal, Bt cotton now constitutes about 90 per cent of the total cotton crop in the country. “Bt cotton constitutes nearly 90 per cent of total area under cotton cultivation. Out of the total area of 111.42 lakh …
Firms keep govt in the dark over conducting experiments, he says Agriculture Minister Umesh Katti has declared that the Government will not allow trials of genetically modified (GM) crops in the State. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday in Bangalore, the Minister said Karnataka had opposed Bt brinjal, and if media …
New Delhi Since the introduction of genetically modified (GM) cotton crop, which accounts more than 90% in the total area under cotton in the country, there has been a fear of genetic erosion and loss of biodiversity, a group of reputed cotton breeders have expressed. While acknowledging the fact that …
Following the decision of 14 states giving a categorical no to Bt brinjal, states have now come down hard on the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) stressing that they must be consulted before any private sector agency is allowed to conduct trials for genetically modified crops. Bihar chief minister Nitish …
The ladybird beetle, Coleomegilla maculata (DeGeer), is a common and abundant predator in many cropping systems. Its larvae and adults are predaceous, feeding on aphids, thrips, lepidopteran larvae and plant tissues, such as pollen. Therefore, this species is exposed to insecticidal proteins expressed in insect-resistant, genetically engineered cotton expressing Cry …
This article studies the development of the Non-Pesticidal Management Project (NPM) that emerged in the late 1980s in Andhra Pradesh's Warangal district of the semi-arid region Telengana as a response to accumulating agrarian distress, when chemical pesticides did not help to counter massive pest infestations.
Entomopathogenic bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and its toxins have been extensively used for pest control in agriculture and forestry and in public health programmes since the 1930s. At the core of such application are protein crystals that get synthesised when Bt cells develop spores. The proteins called Cry (from Crystal) …
Fitness costs of resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops occur in the absence of Bt toxins, when individuals with resistance alleles are less fit than individuals without resistance alleles. As costs of Bt resistance are common, refuges of non-Bt host plants can delay resistance not only by providing susceptible individuals …
Or why Bt cotton was introduced in the fields while Bt brinjal was embargoed The fate of the controversial Bt brinjal is blowing in the wind! At a meeting of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), the apex body for transgenic crops in India, several experts favoured a
Centre approves field trials of 14 GM crops. But some states refuse trials, saying safety regulations are too lax. With politicians joining activists, the issue is likely to take a politically volatile turn. This special report in DTE uncovers the mess in GM crops. As India gets ready to unleash …
AT daybreak on March 11, there was a burst of activity at Litchi Lawn, a corner plot on the sprawling campus of the Pusa Institute in Bihar’s Samastipur district. Workers were uprooting the maize growing in a small patch of land close to the office, intent on finishing their work …
How do you propose to deal with conflict of interest in GEAC? Around three months ago a document called Declaration of Independence was prepared. Scientists who are members of GEAC were asked to sign it. The declaration states that a scientist can take decisions independently. If a GEAC member is …
