The Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) is organising a national brainstorming session on genetically modified (GM) crops on February 2 and 3 to harness opinion of all States with a view to stamping out GM foods from the country. Agriculture and Forest Ministers of all the States as well as heads of State Biodiversity Boards are being invited to the national workshop. V.S. Vijayan, director of KSBB, said the workshop would...

More than 15 persons representing non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from Kerala will attend a public consultation being organised by the Ministry of Environment in Bangalore on January 25 on permitting commercial release of genetically modified brinjal (Bt brinjal) in the country. Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh had announced the holding of consultations at different places following protests against the approval granted by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee...

A revolution in small farm management is essential to revitalise the country’s agriculture sector, according to noted agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan. Corporate farming would be detrimental to India. Farming was the largest private sector enterprise in the country, and any bid to take away land from the farmer would be counter-productive. But a symbiotic relationship between farmers and industry, resulting in a win-win situation for both, would be good, he...

Bt brinjal is a genetically modified version of an eggplant that is injected with a protein that makes it immune to pests Kochi: There’s a new player in the fight against Bt brinjal, a village panchayat in Kerala that is seeking to preserve a traditional variety of eggplant. As part of the plans of the village-level elected legislative body, around 8,000 households in the Mararikulam North gram panchayat in the coastal...

Biopiracy in the field of medicine is on the rise with Europe and the US being granted 2,000 patents every year for drugs based on Indian traditional systems of medicine. These patents are being granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTP), the European Patent Office (EPO) and other overseas patent offices. This startling claim was made by forests and environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday. It is to reverse...