India’s Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) has approved a new Bt cotton variety Bikaneri Narma  developed by India's Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR) and by the University of Agricultural Sciences in Karnataka. The variety contains the gene for the Bt Cry 1Ac protein and has been approved by GEAC for release in the North, Central and South Cotton Growing Zones of the country.  Read more... , Related news

Lawyers demand combining of law suits against Bayer

Lawyers representing farmers in US who had filed law suits against Germany based Bayer AG have demanded that their individual suits be combined. The farmers had sued the company after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in August 2006 that trace amounts of a Bayer-developped GM rice had been found in commercial long- grain rice in the U.S. This led to restrictions on exports and  bans on two of the highest-yielding rice seed varieties leading to a drop in the market price of U.S. rice.  Read more...

GM Banana to benefit Uganda

A discussion paper from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has advocated cultivation of GM banana in Uganda and argued that it would result in increased economic benefits. However it also added that realization of those benefits would depend on consumer perceptions, attitudes and the willingness to pay for the GM technology.  Read more...

Environmentalists oppose use of hybrid seeds in cultivation

Environmentalists in Bangladesh are opposing use of hybrid seeds in cultivation as a means of increasing agriculture production. Environmental and activist groups say that use of hybrid seeds would mean that the  marketing of such seeds would be controlled by multinational companies to the  detriment of  poor farmers who would lose control over ownership of seeds. Read more...

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