-The Hindu Journalist-author Meena Menon on the crisis of cotton and why India needs to go back to desi varieties There’s a pithy summing up of Bt Cotton in Meena Menon’s 2018 article ‘A lost cotton heritage’. “Bt cotton is like Fair and Lovely,” Kamal Kishore Dhiran, an organic cotton farmer, tells the journalist and author. “Does it really change you or make you fair? Similarly Bt cotton doesn’t address the main...
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Monsanto allowed to claim patent on GM cotton seeds
-The Hindu Business Line Shares of Monsanto India Ltd climb as much as to Rs 2,669, their highest since Sept. 26 The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Monsanto Technology to claim patent on its genetically-modified cotton seeds, giving a boost to firms developing new seed technologies. The ruling overturned an order of a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court last year which invalidated the patent granted to Monsanto — acquired by German...
More »Ravaged by a caterpillar: on the armyworm invasion in India -Priyanka Pulla
-The Hindu First detected in Karnataka only in May this year, the fall armyworm, a native of the Americas, has already spread as far as West Bengal and Gujarat, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Priyanka Pulla reports on the deficiencies in India’s quarantine regime It is a hot day in September, and two men are prising open the leaves of maize in a field in Karnataka’s Chikkaballapur district. The...
More »Monthly income per farm household grew between NSSO & NABARD surveys, but so has the level of outstanding loans
A recent report by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) enlightens one about the state of farmers' income and indebtedness in 2015-16. Entitled NABARD All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey 2016-17 – in short NAFIS 2016-17 – the report says that between 2012-13 and 2015-16 the average monthly income for agricultural households grew by around 39 percent. One may recall that the Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey...
More »A case for zero-budget natural farming -Sudhirendar Sharma
-The Hindu Business Line Tested across AP, this technique, though devoid of chemicals, has helped boost productivity and cut production costs In the last fortnight, two announcements to revive the sagging farm sector evoked differing responses. While the announcement by the government to hike minimum support price for selected crops generated political noise, a more nuanced approach by NITI Aayog seeking State governments’ support in reducing cost of crop production was...
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