-The Indian Express Makka ki roti aur sarson ka sag is a popular food item in northern India, in particular, Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh where both maize and mustard are widely grown. All vegetarian dishes made in much of northern, eastern and western India are cooked in mustard (sarson) oil. Why, suddenly, has mustard taken centre stage? GM mustard has begun to stir both the scientific and activist lobbies,...

-The Indian Express In May this year, a regulatory body under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, had given its go-ahead for cultivation of genetically modified mustard. Earlier, it was Bt cotton that was genetically modified and its ill-effects on the ecology are for all to see. Chandigarh: PEOPLE CONCERNED about changes being made in their food, especially at the genetic level, came together at the Sukhna Lake on Friday morning under...

-AsianAge.com Now farmers have started to awaken the nation to the farming crisis with strikes in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Indian civilisation is based on gratitude to our farmers and all beings who contribute to our food — annadata sukhibhava. Our traditional belief is “Uttam-kheti, madhyam-vyapar, neech-naukri”. The combination of the Green Revolution in Punjab imposed in the 1960s and the corporate globalisation “reforms” started in the 1990s have created policies for annadata...

-The Hindu Business line Distressed farmers are demanding loan waivers, but that should not deflect focus from what needs to be done and undone to address the root cause of the agrarian crisis The farmers’ unrest across the country, and particularly across several BJP-ruled States, appears to have caught the central government by surprise. But it should really not have done so. Ever since candidate Narendra Modi in 2014 promised the farmers...

-The Hindu Claim that decision will reduce dependence on oil imports is baseless, say activists Chennai: As the Centre mulls over giving approval for commercial cultivation of GM mustard, a section of biologists and activists have warned that such a move would be ill-advised. Arguing that the rationale given by the government and industry to allow Genetically Modified mustard to enter the food ecosystem is flawed, Kavitha Kuruganti, convener of the Alliance for...