-The Hindu Business Line Asks firm to own up responsibility; threatens to stop selling seeds Hyderabad: The National Seed Association of India, which represents the majority of the cotton seed companies in the country, has blamed Mahyco Monsanto and Monsanto India for widespread resistance developed by Pink bollworm to Bollgard-II, the second-generation genetically modified cotton seed technology. The association has threatened to stop selling the seeds developed with BG-II technology if the two...

-Livemint.com In Gujarat elections, BJP won 23 seats in cotton cultivation areas, while the Congress took 30 The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra is worried about the electoral reversals the party suffered in rural Gujarat, especially the cotton-growing parts. Results of the Gujarat assembly elections announced on Monday showed the Congress made significant gains in the Saurashtra-Kutch region and north Gujarat where cotton and groundnut are the main cash crops. In...

-The Hindu Business Line   Hyderabad: With Pink bollworm turning virulent and posing a serious threat to the interests of farmers, the Telangana government has asked the farmers to terminate the crop before December. It has ordered an intense awareness campaign to educate the farmers to uproot the plants out after third picking. If the crop is terminated by December, it will break the lifecycle of the bollworm population, lessening the risk of...

-Down to Earth Death of cotton farmers due to pesticide poisoning in the Vidarbha region raises vital questions about the government's attitude towards regulation of toxic pesticides One more evil has reared its ugly head in Maharashtra’s arid Vidarbha region, which has so far been infamous for farmer suicides. Some 35 farmers in the region have died of pesticide poisoning in last four months. Most of them were working in cotton and...

-The Times of India Kishore Tiwari has been taking up the cause of the farmers since several years. Farm suicide in the cotton-district of Yavatmal came into focus due to his persistent efforts of continuously informing the media. After the BJP came into power in Maharashtra, Tiwari was roped in as chief of Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swavalamban Samiti (VNSSM), a state government think-tank on agriculture. He feels it is time to reduce...