The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co Ltd (Mahyco) has denied reports of short supply of the Bt cottonseed in Andhra Pradesh. Responding to reports of seed supply shortage and the Agriculture Minister, Mr Kanna Lakshminarayana, asking the firm to ensure enough supply of the seed, the Maharashtra-based company said that it promised …
Not to allow field trials of transgenic rice varieties The government on Monday asserted that it would not permit field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops in Kerala, even as research and advocacy groups came out against the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) for considering an application submitted by a …
At a time when Bt cotton hybrids are ruling the roost, re-introducing non-Bt varieties may seem like a regressive step. But the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) here, in tandem with the agriculture department of Maharashtra government and Centrally-sponsored Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), is undertaking an experiment called high-density …
Now, consumers can make ‘informed choice’ on buying packaged food products Consumers in India can now make “informed choice” on whether they want to buy packaged food products that are genetically modified or contain genetically modified ingredients. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, in an extraordinary gazette notification, has made an …
Reports positive impact of hybrid variety on socio-economic development. To counter the spate of seriously damning anti-Bt cotton studies by some scientific and activists’ groups, a farmers’ organisation has now come up with an all-is-well report on the controversial GM variant of the popular cash crop. The study on the …
GM crops that make their own insecticide also deliver benefits for their conventional plant neighbours, a study in China has concluded. These strains seem to boost populations of natural pest-controlling predators, and this effect spills over to non-transgenic crops, the research found. Details of the work by a Chinese-French team …
New Delhi Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has criticised the government for its ‘failure’ to invest in public sector-initiated biotech research in agriculture, even as he stressed the need for scientific validation of the impact of Bt cotton on the sector. “There are serious scientific issues raised by responsible scientists …
A ban on the use of crops with transgenic traits is unscientific and India needs new technologies to raise farm yields Science and technology hold the key to developing low-input, high-output agriculture. The challenge is to use new technologies creatively and to make evidence-based decisions on the deployment of new …
Agri-biotech and plant breeding company Krishidhan Seeds, a developer of commercial hybrid seeds for Indian agriculture market has announced the launch of Praja, a new variety of BT cotton seed. Praja is a Bollgard II variety of BT seed which is developed as an insect-resistant genetically modified seed having good …
The opinion on the success of second generation of genetically modified BT cotton variety, Bollgard 2, in the state is chiefly polarised. The new variety, resilient to two chief pests, has a large chunk of the state’s farmers taking it up with more than 85 per cent of acreage under …
The Ministry of consumer affairs in an extra ordinary gazette notification, made an amendment to bring in GM food labeling under G.S.R. 427 (E) 2 (b) (ii) after sub rule 6, the following sub rule shall be inserted with effect from 1st day of January 2013, namely Every packaged containing …
Illegally smuggled into Brazil 14 years ago, transgenic soy has proved a boon to domestic farmers and now accounts for 85 percent of total production. But five million Brazilian farmers are now locked in a legal feud with US biotech giant Monsanto, the GM soy seed manufacturer, and are refusing …
An international team that includes scientists from India has cracked the genetic code of domesticated tomato — an achievement that will pave the way to improve yield, taste, nutrition, colour and shelf life of the kitchen essential. Giving an insight into the important breakthrough by the Tomato Genome Consortium (a …
The EU's Joint Research Centre (JRC) has published the proceedings of a workshop on socio-economic impacts of genetically modified (GM) crops. The report finds that there is insufficient evidence for a proper analysis of socio-economic impacts, and calls for the development of indicators to facilitate socio-economic studies. Co-organized by JRC …
Aren’t critics of genetically engineered food anti-science? Isn’t the debate over GMOs (genetically modified organisms) a spat between emotional but ignorant activists on one hand and rational GM-supporting scientists on the other? A new report released , “GMO Myths and Truths,” challenges these claims. The report presents a large body …
The paper The Status and Impact of Biosafety Regulation in Developing Economies since Ratification of the Cartagena Protocol explores how the Cartagena Protocol to the convention on Biological Diversity, as well as other important drivers, have affected the regulation of genetically engineered (GE) crops in developing countries. It examines the …
'No GM spuds," proclaimed a banner wielded by protesters in opposition to a trial of genetically modified crops last weekend. The activists had planned to destroy the trial plots at Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire but were thwarted by a low turnout and a well-prepared police presence. But more interesting than …
Anti-GM protesters who had planned to "decontaminate" a field of modified wheat in Hertfordshire have been stopped from entering by a police line. The Take the Flour Back group said it failed because the crop in Harpenden, created to deter aphids - a wheat pest - was "hidden behind a …
The controversy surrounding Bt brinjal, the first genetically modified food crop developed in India, has turned murkier with the National Biodiversity Authority planning to launch prosecution against a seed company for alleged bio-piracy. The National Bio-diversity Authority, which regulates matters pertaining to biodiversity protection, conservation and use in India, will …
Although recent and projected increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide can alter plant phenological development, these changes have not been quantified in terms of floral outcrossing rates or gene transfer. Could differential phenological development in response to rising CO2 between genetically modified crops and wild, weedy relatives increase the spread of …
