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 …
The cotton industry is likely to face an acute shortage of seeds this season. The availability of seeds is likely to remain between 34 and 35 million units, against an estimated demand of 45 million units. The shortage comes at a time when the area under the seed has covered …
The role of science in Indian democracy is being revisited with a new intensity. The only problem is that the key players are missing in action I suspect Indian scientists have retired hurt to the pavilion. They were exposed to some nasty public scrutiny on a deal made by a …
In an important decision, the Bihar Government has decided to disallow field trials of Bt maize in the State, citing probable hazards to personal health and the environment in general. Speaking to journalists outside the State Legislature, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that taking cognizance of the dangers involved,
Pitches for field trials of Bt food crops in Bihar; GEAC had earlier withdrawn permission on Bihar CM complaint The Centre appears to be a divided house when it comes to the issue of genetically modified food crops. While environment minister Jairam Ramesh favours holding back permission for genetically food …
The Union Minister for Forest and Environment, Mr Jairam Ramesh, has instructed the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) to immediately cancel field trials for Bt-maize in Bihar.
Jairam intervenes after Nitish tells him that he is opposed to such trials Even as the moratorium on commercialisation of Bt brinjal stands, Union Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh has asked the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) to immediately withdraw its permission to Monsanto for field trials of Bt …
JAIPUR: Farmer groups in Rajasthan have contested the claim of U.S.-based agricultural bio-technology giant Monsanto that its agreement signed with the State Government last July would make a sustainable improvement in farmers' lives and affirmed that the pact would in fact leave the very productive base of agriculturists
This study focuses on the direct monetary and other effects of growing GM crops that influence farmers‘ income, as represented by the following economic parameters: crop yields, seed costs, pesticides and herbicides costs, labour costs, and gross margins. The objectives of this study are, firstly, to provide an overview of …
THE government should offer assured income to farmers and shield them from erratic weather conditions. These are a few of the demands of farmers’ groups from the Union Budget 2011-12, which will be tabled in February-end. To address the declining growth in agriculture, the government should allocate more funds for …
Genetically engineered (GE, also called genetically modified, GM) Bt eggplant (also called talong, brinjal or aubergine) has been engineered to be resistant to injury caused by the eggplant fruit and shoot borer. A genetic cassette containing genes from the bacterium Bacillus thuringenesis has been inserted into the DNA of the …
This report analyses major new developments regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in various regions around the world, including new evidence and testimony from Friends of the Earth International’s member groups. This 2011 edition focus particularly on pesticide use, increasing public and legal opposition to GMOs, and the biotech industry’s move …
THREE months after the country’s top science academies released their controversial report backing genetically modified (GM) crops and hastily withdrew it after it was panned by the scientific community, they are back with an updated report—and the verdict is that it is worse than the original. The Inter-Academy Report on …
THE Rajasthan government distributed hybrid maize seeds not suitable for agroclimatic conditions of the state to over 750,000 farmers. In doing so, it overlooked the recommendations of the Union ministry for agriculture and the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR). The seeds had failed to give desired yields during trials …
A leading Indian biochemist has urged the environment and forests ministry to lift the moratorium on Bt brinjal, the country's first genetically modified (GM) food crop developed using a technology supplied by the US multinational seed giant Monsanto. "The moratorium is not affecting the multinational companies but India's own scientists …
V S Achutananthan, Kerala Chief MinisterKerala is split when it comes to the genetically modified. While the government has consistently taken a position against anything GM, and has vowed to keep the state GM-free as a matter of policy, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which rules the state, has …
India missed the Industrial Revolution under the British rule and is still paying the price for it. When biotechnology revolution can offer technologies to im- prove agriculture and food security in free India, it is dithering and procrasti- nating to the point of self-defeat. (Opinion)
Genetic modification of life forms is a scientific issue and politics does not produce scientific answers. Hence, the debate over commercial cultivation of genetically-modified (GM) crop should be approached scientifically, says an eminent geneticist.
THE timing and the message of the conference could not have been more stark. At a time when the endosulfan problem is in the limelight, sparking calls for a nationwide ban on the pesticide, its manufacturers staged a remarkable feat. They held a three-day conference on rural prosperity at Delhi’s …
KERALA has challenged the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee’s (GEAC) decision to allow open field trials of genetically modified (GM) rubber in the state. GEAC, the country’s apex body that approves release of GM crops, had given a go-ahead to the Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII) to carry out the …
