-The Hindu This is the first time that a Central ministry has endorsed the safety and benefits of the seed in Parliament Field trials of the transgenic mustard variety, DMH-11, revealed them to be higher yielding and they didn’t deter the pollination habits of honey bees, Union science minister Jitendra Singh said in Rajya Sabha in a written response to a query. Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11) had recently been approved by the Genetic...
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In Punjab and Haryana, Acres of Infestation Leave Cotton Farmers Devastated -Prabhjit Singh
-TheWire.in The pink bollworm attack has left deaths by suicide in its wake. The authorities, farmers say, are late in even conducting preliminary surveys. Mansa (Punjab)/Fatehabad (Haryana): There is silence in the cotton fields of Punjab and Haryana where farmers are uprooting plants after having sprayed multiple rounds of pesticides in vain. The pink bollworm has ravaged cotton crops in the country’s north, mainly in the districts of Bathinda and Mansa in Punjab...
More »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 »Budget push for zero budget farming but contradictions mar Andhra's natural agri foray -Leo Saldanha
-Down to Earth The method was promoted as low-cost investment on part of farmers, but huge amounts are being raised for statewide implementation Andhra Pradesh has played a leading role in promoting agroecological farming in the past two decades. The Community Managed Sustainable Agriculture (CMSA) initiative of the state is often cited as a major intervention which encouraged farmers to gradually move away from chemical-intensive farming. However, despite such efforts, just 1...
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