-The Hindu Business Line FSSAI issues order on 24 items even as it works on regulations for GM foods Come January 1, 2021, importers of 24 major food crops will have to mandatorily declare that the products are not genetically-modified and that they also have a non-GM origin. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has come out with this order to ensure that only non-GM food crops come into the...
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The flawed spin to India's cotton story -Imran Siddiqi
-The Hindu The country’s hybrid seed model for cotton favours seed companies over farmers Genetically Modified (GM) pest resistant Bt cotton hybrids have captured the Indian market since their introduction in 2002. These now cover over 95% of the area under cotton, with the seeds produced entirely by the private sector. India’s cotton production in 2019 is projected as the highest ever: 354 lakh bales. Bt cotton’s role in increasing India’s cotton...
More »Sowing the seeds of climate crisis in Odisha -Chitrangada Choudhury and Aniket Aga
-RuralIndiaOnline.org In Rayagada, Bt cotton acreage has risen by 5,200 per cent in 16 years. The result: this biodiversity hotspot, rich in indigenous millets, rice varieties and forest foods, is seeing an alarming ecological shift “Everybody is doing it. So we are too,” said Rupa Pirikaka, somewhat uncertainly. ‘It’ is genetically modified (GM) Bt cotton seeds, now easily bought at the local market, or even in one’s own village. ‘Everybody’ is countless other...
More »The attack on agroecology -Sujatha Byravan
-The Hindu Powerful lobbies with vested interests see agroecology as a threat to their influence on farming systems Agroecology is recognised worldwide as a system that enhances fertile landscapes, increases yields, restores soil health and biodiversity, promotes climate resilience and improves farmers’ well-being. Its practices are supported by many agricultural scientists, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, farmers’ groups and several NGOs. It is therefore surprising that...
More »After Haryana Bt Brinjal find, activists seek pan-India probe -Vishwa Mohan
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A day after confirmation of illegal cultivation of genetically modified (GM) brinjal - Bt Brinjal - in a small farm in Fatehabad district of Haryana, a group of farm activists on Saturday wrote to Union environment ministry seeking its direction to government agencies for time-bound investigations beyond Haryana as they suspect that the cultivation of this transgenic variety of food crop may not be limited...
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