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 …
GM crops are being cultivated for the last 15 years in many countries and culminating in the last year, GM crops were planted in more than 1 billion hectares (b ha) by nearly 15 million farmers. In India, about 6.3 million farmers cultivated Bt cotton last year (http://www.isaaa.org) in more …
The diversity of opinions that debates about Bt brinjal have generated over the last year (for example, see refs 1–8) has contributed to the haziness of the future of the variety. This note attempts to collate the opinions of various scientists in the hope that some clarity may emerge if …
Studies to understand the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) resistance mechanism in European corn borer (ECB, Ostrinia nubilalis) suggest that resistance may be due to changes in the midgut-specific Bt toxin receptor. In this study, we identified 10 aminopeptidase-like genes, which have previously been identified as putative Bt toxin receptors in other …
Even as the area around Parliament was swamped by crowds of Anna Hazare's supporters, demanding a stronger Lokpal Bill on Wednesday, a small group of environmental activists staged their own demonstration against a different bill, the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill, 2011. Science and Technology Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh …
Genetically Engineered/Modified (GE/GM) crops are organisms created artificially in labs by forcibly inserting genes of unrelated organisms into the genetic structure of the plant. Genetically engineered crops are unpredictable in their character and the plants once released in the environment are uncontrollable and can never be taken back. www.greenpeace.org/india/Global/india/report/brai%20%20critique.pdf
The BRAI Bill is a blatant attempt to bulldoze through the public resistance and genuine concerns about Genetically Modified crops, and to deny state governments their Constitutional authority over Agriculture and Health, said the Coalition for a GM-Free India in its reaction to the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India 2011 …
In the lush forested uplands of Koraput, Domu Matpadia, a Paraja tribeswoman, is coming face to face with modern farm technology. A representative of Charoen Pokphand, a Thai agribusiness multinational, is telling her how to grow its hybrid maize seeds that the state government has given her free along with …
When representatives of the world’s largest seed company, Monsanto, began to make discreet visits to the second floor offices of the inconspicuous Van Bandhu Kalyaan Yojana in the Gandhinagar headquarters of the Gujarat government in 2007, it set in motion a process that would transform Indian agriculture in unexpected and …
Are hybrids always a precursor to a genetically modified (GM) version of the crop? In the case of maize, both the champions of GM and the opposition believe GM maize is round the corner. Currently, four multinationals are conducting field trials of GM maize in India. Monsanto India Ltd is …
Maize has become the queen of cereals, courted by state governments, seed companies, farmers and the feedstock and starch industries as the crop of the future. The golden promise of hybrid maize with its high productivity and high returns is luring farmers across the country. But this triumphal march is …
The BT brinjal case just got murkier. Government’s National Biodiversity Authority has decided to take legal action against Mayhco and Monsanto for using Indian varieties of the vegetable without mandatory permissions. The authority, meant to govern use of Indian genetic resources by business and research groups, decided in its meeting …
New Delhi More than a year after former environment minister Jairam Ramesh put an indefinite moratorium on commercial introduction of Bt brinjal in the country, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has asked for additional tests on the ayurvedic qualities of the genetically modified brinjal. GEAC has asked Maharashtra Hybrid …
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has sought funds to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore for research and development of transgenic seeds in pulses. “Transgenic material is very important to take on pod borer that results in losses up to 30 per cent of all pulses produced in …
A senior farmers' leader and former Agriculture Minister, Mr Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao, has asked the ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) to ban research on genetically modified (GM) paddy. GM in paddy might impact business prospects for Indian rice in global markets. Voicing concern that GM paddy traits could contaminate …
The Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill, 2011 aims to promote the safe use of modern biotechnology by enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of regulatory procedures and provide for establishment of the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India to regulate the research, transport, import, manufacture and use of organisms and products …
This document features a legion of referenced and compelling independent studies that confirm Bt cotton has transformed cotton production in India by decreasing insecticide applications, increasing yield and through socio-economic and welfare benefits.
This publication includes statistics on the adoption of single and multiple gene Bt cotton hybrids; adoption of Bt cotton by major states in India as well as number of farmers adopting Bt cotton hybrids from 2002 to 2010.
Transgenics or GE/GM crops are one of the oft-used tools of modern biotechnology, deployed in our food and farming systems. Genetically Modified (GM) or Genetically Engineered (GE) crops are created unnaturally by inserting genes, taken usually from alien organisms like bacteria, viruses, animals and other unrelated plants, for obtaining certain …
This refers to the editorial “When business rules our kitchens” (June 16-30, 2011). Do we want to sensationalise the issue of poor food safety regulations and use big companies as a whipping boy or work on the solutions? How are we going to deal with the fundamental issue of feeding …
Drawing on the literature on controversies, especially on the health risk assessment of genetically modified organisms in Europe, and long-standing debates in science and technology studies, this article argues that science-based risk assessment has inherent limitations, however rigorous, independent, and peer reviewed the work may be. In this context, the …
