-The Hindu Efforts are on to obtain Geographical Indication tag for the fragrant non-Basmati joha rice varieties of Assam As the aroma of Assam's joha rice varieties that make the fragrant pulao, delicious Assamese dessert payash and are a must for a number of ethnic delicacies spread far and wide, the State government has begun the technical exercise to obtain Geographical Indication (GI) tag for joha rice to protect these indigenous varieties...
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Panel finds lapses in development of ‘first indigenous Bt cotton’ -K Venkateshwarlu
-The Hindu ICAR “shielding errant officials” by delaying the report In a damning indictment of the way some Bt cotton varieties were developed and commercialised in the country, a committee headed by Prof. S.K. Sopory, Vice-Chancellor of JNU, found that indigenous Bikaneri Nerma (BN) Bt cotton variety was contaminated by a gene patented by Monsanto. Having found lapses in the “BNLA106 event”, the committee has held as “invalid” the data obtained from bio-safety...
More »Keeper of grains-Jyotika Sood
-Down to Earth An ecologist has been guarding seeds of more than 750 rare rice varieties for over a decade Lit by a kerosene lamp, the two-room hut just outside a sleepy hamlet in Odisha’s Rayagada district can easily pass off as any other farmer’s house in this tribal region. Step inside it, and one is taken aback by the hundreds of earthen pots labelled with coded stickers stacked in a corner...
More »Magic of millets-Ananda Teertha Pyati
-Deccan Herald At a time when many parts of the State are reeling under drought, Honnalli village in Gulbarga district has shown the way. Farmers here have raised millets in spite of inadequate rainfall, reports Ananda Teertha Pyati. With shortage of rain, the State is reeling under severe drought. Farmers from several districts across the State are facing losses. Honnalli village in Gulbarga district seems to be insulated from this problem. This...
More »MPs' report refutes TOI's BT Cotton stories-Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
-The Hoot Buried in a parliamentary committee report is a refutation by villagers of TOI’s controversial stories on BT cotton’s virtues, published in 2008 and reprinted in the paper as paid news in 2011. PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA revisits the saga Allegations leveled by Palagummi Sainath, Rural Affairs Editor of The Hindu newspaper that its competing daily, the Times of India, published an article at the behest of Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech without disclosing this...
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