A recent international conference on climate change and sustainable agriculture in New Delhi brought forth the shocking realisation that there are no conclusive studies in India on the prospective impact of climate change on the agriculture sector including livestock and fisheries.
Much of the country's understanding comes from global data provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the World Meteorological Organisation and other world bodies.
The activists opposing the commercialization of Bt brinjal have asserted that Bt brinjal would seriously affect the use of brinjal in the Alternative and Complementary Systems of Medicine (ACSM) in India, through ‘loss of synergy’. The then Minister for Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India (GoI), repeatedly echoed this view.
When the researchers and agriculturists across the country are having heated debates on introducing BT brinjal in the country, they have forgotten to protect the desi Brinjal variety ‘Sunde Badane’, which is grown only in few places. ‘Sunde badane’ a variety of brinjal found near Biligiri Bhavan at Biligirirangana betta.
NEW DELHI, 15 SEPT: Though opinion is divided on the risks and benefits associated with genetically modified (GM) crops, human health concerns over pesticide use can be addressed by these crops, according to agriculture ministry officials.
Sources said the damage caused by pests to the production of brinjal in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, UP and West Bengal
Farmers in Assam, especially those in districts close to the state capital, have found a new and safer method of pest control. The State Bio-Control Laboratory (SBCL) of the state agriculture department has isolated two exotic species of farmer-friendly insect bio-agents and have begun sharing these with farmers.
More testing has to be done on the new variety of brinjal and on any vegetable that may be in the process of being genetically modified.OVER three decades ago I was asked, as were other District Magistrates and Deputy Commissioners in the country, to help the agricultural officers in our districts to promote two new varieties of rice, which were called High Yielding Varieties, or HYV, among farmer
In days of yore, the Mararikulam brinjal was much favoured by the royal families of Travancore and Amabalapuzha in Kerala. Slender, long and green, this variety has been grown in Mararikulam on the Kerala coast for centuries. The village would supply its choicest brinjals to royalty.
