Do you think GM foods offer a solution for hunger?
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Previous Polls |
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Poll 4 |
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Do you think India should allow GM Rice to
be cultivated ? |
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Poll 3 |
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Do you think the Bt brinjal moratorium will be lifted and its
cultivation allowed ? |
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INDIA
TODAY FEATURE ON GENE BANKS
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“Suman Sahai, founder of Gene Campaign, the
organization which
 has
opened community-run Gene-Seed Banks across
the state of Jharkhand, believes that nature's
technologies can meet the needs of humanity.
She regrets that there is next to no effort in
government to protect crop biodiversity. There
cannot be long-term food security without
preserving the biodiversity of crop plants”.
At Gene Campaign's community-run gene banks
across Jharkhand, farmers are lent seeds of
various varieties of rice according to their
land profile. After harvesting, they have to
return three times the amount of seed back to
the bank so that it can be dispensed to more
farmers. Gene Campaign has a collection of
more than 2,000 varieties of rice most of
which were about to be lost. "The idea is to
make farmers the custodians of seeds and thus
biodiversity," says Sahai. |
Read the full story in India Today 19 July,
2010
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IMPACT
ON FARM ECONOMICS OF CHANGING SEED USE
A STUDY IN JHARKHAND
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Gene Campaign conducted a study in selected
villages in Jharkhand
 to
understand how farm economics are being
affected by the introduction of hybrid rice.
Rice is the principal, and for most parts of
this rain fed area, the only crop taken by
farmers. Their food security is heavily
dependent on this crop. Along with Orissa,
this region falls within what is considered
the Primary Center of Origin of rice. |
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RECOMMENDATIONS FROM A NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
CLIMATE CHANGE AND FOOD SECURITY
Suman Sahai
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 A
two day national conference was organized by Gene
Campaign along with ActionAid, on Ensuring
Food Security in a Changing Climate to generate greater
awareness about this crucial issue and to develop
recommendations for future action. The conference
held in Delhi , brought together over 200
participants from 22 states : Haryana, Uttaranchal,
Jharkhand, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Meghalaya, Assam,
Mizoram, West Bengal, Tamilnadu, Himachal Pradesh,
Karnataka, Punjab , Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat,
Kerala , New Delhi and Pondichery.
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Gene Campaign,
a grassroots level organisation which has worked
in 17 states of India, was started in 1993 by
Dr. Suman Sahai and a group of people concerned
about food and livelihood security. Gene
Campaign is recognized as a leading research and
advocacy organisation working in the field of
bioresources, farmers' and community rights,
intellectual property rights and indigenous
knowledge, biopiracy, regulations of GMOs &
impact of climate change on agriculture and
food. |
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