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...

BHUBANESWAR: Widespread protests marked the visit of Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh, to a national consultation on commercialisation of Bt brinjal. In a novel method of registering their resentment to attempts to allow commercial production of Bt brinjal in the country, hundreds of women under the banner of Orissa Nari Samaj (ONS) took out a funeral procession of Bt brinjal. They set a model of Bt...

The Centre on Monday partially blamed the ban imposed by the Uttar Pradesh government on processing of raw sugar for the sudden spurt in the sugar price, which had touched Rs. 50 a kg in Delhi markets, but could not say when the situation would ease. Speaking to journalists here, Union Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said imported raw sugar was lying at the Kandla port for the last...

The Union government’s decision to revive a long-forgotten concept of primary producers’ companies (PPCs) ought to be welcomed. Such companies can help small farmers and individual craftsmen come together to derive economies of scale. The idea of farmers’ companies which extend the benefit of being a registered firm while allowing farmers to derive all the benefits of agricultural land ownership, was mooted nearly a decade ago. After much debate, the...

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...