-DNAIndia.com The infringement suit filed by PepsiCo against Gujarat’s potato farmers is based on legally flawed premises The infringement suit filed by PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt Ltd (PIH), Indian subsidiary of the US multinational corporation, against potato farmers in Gujarat is premised on an untenable interpretation of law on plant breeders in the country.  Yet, on the basis of a claim of an infringement of its potato variety by the accused farmers,...

-Newsclick.in Even as a strong campaign against PepsiCo products began in India, the corporate giant said it might withdraw the case if farmers were willing to sign an agreement for buying the registered variety of FC-5 potato seeds. New Delhi: The legal tussle between multinational giant PepsiCo and potato farmers in India has intensified. In a court hearing in Ahmedabad on April 26, the company has gone ahead to suggest an...

-The Times of India AHMEDABAD: The US food and beverages giant PepsiCo has sued three farmers in Gujarat complaining that they have been illegally growing and selling a variety of potato exclusively registered by the company. PepsiCo claimed it has sole rights to grow them to manufacture chips of its brand - Lay's. Looking at the company's registration of the potato variety in country's Plant Variety Registry, the commercial court here last...

-Livemint.com The regulatory system for the seed and biotech industry should be transparent, science-based, predictable and fair For many decades, the Indian policy framework facilitated the interaction of science and innovation with entrepreneurship, which led to competition and the subsequent development of an industry structure that delivered sustainable economic benefits. The government was a major contributor to investments in seed research in India for close to three decades after independence. Policy reforms like...

-The Financial Express The agriculture ministry is not reconciled to the grip which Monsanto has on the Indian cottonseed industry owing to the immense preference for its patented, genetically-modified (GM) bollworm-resistance traits. On May 16, Additional Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta intervened in a dispute between Monsanto and its biggest (now divorced) sub-licensee, Hyderabad-based Nuziveedu Seeds. He made written submissions on behalf of the government, a week after hearings on the matter had...