New Delhi, 17/07/2014. To Shri Prakash Javadekar, The Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Govt of India. Dear Sir, Sub: Seeking your urgent intervention in stopping approval for Field trials of GM Crops Reg: We are writing this with utmost concern as numerous media reports in the last two days have indicated that the […]
Karnataka state govt blacklists Mahyco and orders ban on its Bt cotton sales
Karnataka state govt order banning Mahyco’s Bt cotton
ICAR REPORT ON BNBt Cotton EXPOSES INCOMPETENCE OF GM SCIENTISTS AND REGULATORS TO REGULATE GMOs IN INDIA
Coalition for GM Free India demands withdrawal of Supreme Court affidavit of Ministry of Agriculture that gives clean chit to GM regulators. Reacting to the Prof.Sopory Committee Report1 that investigated the Bt Bikaneri Narma case, the Coalition for a GM-Free India said that, “We congratulate the Committee for its thorough investigation which exposes one of […]
Dismal picture of cotton in Madhya Pradesh in the past decade
A report released by Beej Swaraj Abhiyan and Hamara Beej Abhiyan in Madhya Pradesh on March 31st 2012, also including data from a primary survey taken up in 2012, to look at the comparative performance of Bt cotton with a set of sample farmers in Kharif 2011 as compared to their experiences in Kharif 2011, […]
Bt cotton hype in Karnataka exposed
A report released on the occasion of a one-day workshop called “10 years of Bt cotton in Karnataka: Whither other cotton?”, with partial support from the Karnataka State Biodiversity Board on March 29th 2012 is available here. This report exposes the reality of fluctuating yields of cotton in the state, increasing use of chemical pesticides […]
10 years of Bt Cotton – False Hype and Failed Promises Exposed
The false hype and failed promises of Bt cotton in India were exposed by the Coalition for GM-Free India with a special report released in a press conference here today. As the 10th anniversary of Bt cotton’s regulatory approval in India approaches, the Coalition, using data from government institutions, highlighted that the hype around Bt […]
(Rajasthan) Government bans GM trials, to burn standing crop
The Rajasthan government has put on hold all trials of genetically modified (GM) crops in the state. In an order dated 13 March, the Principal Secretary, Agriculture, government of Rajasthan stated “..no trials of GM crops should be conducted in the State until final decision in this matter is taken.” “The issue (of permitting trials […]
New report damns India’s GM crop regulation
An explosive new report on the safety asseessment of Bt brinjal (eggplant/aubergine) by Prof. Jack Heinemann has been submitted to India’s Minister of Environment and Forests. Its findings suggest the regulation and official expertise brought to bear on GM crops are either grossly incompetent… or worse. Latha Jishnu’s article below spells out the details. Aruna […]
Mr Prime Minister, Your comments on the opposition to GM crops & Nuclear power plants
Dr Manmohan Singh, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, # 7, Race Course Road, New Delhi March 05, 2012 Your Comments on the Opposition to GM Crops and Nuclear Power Plants Dear Mr. Prime Minister There has been wide coverage of your interview with the journal ‘Science’, on February 24, 2012 concerning the […]
Meet David Runyon…and understand Monsanto some more!
MEET DAVID RUNYON…AND UNDERSTAND MONSANTO SOME MORE ! Meet David Runyon, an “average-sized” farmer with 900 acres from Indiana, USA. He was in India recently and I had a chance to meet and discuss with him various issues related to American farming. He seemed nervous in the alien setting when I met him in Bangalore […]
India’s ‘public sector indigenous Bt cotton’ a scientific fraud!
Coalition for a GM-Free India demands immediate stopping of all public sector transgenic research and an independent enquiry and action against fraudulent scientists. 2011 ends with a big blot to the Indian scientific community, as was the case in 2010 too. The much-hyped public sector Bt cotton lines (Bikaneri Narma Bt variety and NHH-44 Bt […]
Hyped Desi Cotton has Monsanto gene!
India’s claim of having developed its own Bt cotton (genetically modified) variety has taken an embarrassing turn with an RTI inquiry by two scientists revealing how the University of Agriculture Sciences (UAS) at Dharwad went ahead — brushing aside all precautions — to produce an indigenous variety working on a gene originally patented by Monsanto. […]
Scientific Fraud: Misconduct by UAS-Dharwad in the name of Bt cotton
In the name of Bt cotton production, spurious act of developing Bt cotton A misconduct in the name of developing Bt Cotton, by University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad came to the notice of Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR). In the last eight years, as the Bt cotton seed prices were increasing, agriculture researchers, knowledgeable […]
Cotton yield may fall to 5-year low
Right from the beginning, it has been seen that in good years, when the yields are good, industry gives credit to Bt cotton; in bad years, blame it on the rain! Cotton yield may fall to 5-yr low The cotton revolution through Bacillus Thuringiensis, popularly known as Bt, has been losing its sheen gradually over […]
VJAS complains to ToI against ‘paid news’ on Bt cotton & Vidarbha
To The Editor The Times of India Nagpur & Mumbai Dear Sir, Sub: False advertising campaign by Mahyco Monsanto Biotech in Times of India starting August 28, 2011. A serious instance of ‘paid news?’ More than once in the past some reporters of the Times of India (certainly in Nagpur) have shown much sensitivity and […]