when genetically modified (gm) plants were introduced in 1996, some researchers said pests were too smart to be controlled and would eventually develop resistance. There is now evidence that the

the Supreme Court of India said trials of genetically engineered crops may resume. On February 13, a division bench asked the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (geac) to allow gm field

Thanks to pesticide usage falling with Bt cotton, another pest is assuming menacing proportions.

Staff members of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) are carrying out research on Bt brinjal to study its impact on the soil, Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S Arumugham said on Thursday. Research is being conducted at seven agricultural universities in India on the basis of instructions from the Centre, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and TNAU. The State Government is not directly involved in the project, he added. Terming the recent protest by some environmentalists and

over plastic ban: A group of plastic bag manufacturers and recyclers in the US state of California has filed a lawsuit against the Oakland city authorities over a ban on plastic shopping bags.

The Tamil Nadu Agricutlural University (TNAU) has denied that its trial on Bt brinjal is based on an MoU or an agreement with private seed companies like Monsanto and Mahyco. Reacting to the remarks mady by Selvam, secretary, Erode Organic Farmers Collective, the TNAU said Genetically Engineered (GE) trials were being conducted in more than seven agricultural universities across the country on the instruction of the Centre. The GE trial in TNAU is a network research project in which many universities and research centres are involved. The GE research is closely monitored by the ICAR. The allegation that cultivation of Bt cotton or Bt brinjal will affect the soil adversely is totally unscientific and wrong. It is also wrong that Bt food is a slow poison. Moreover, the farmers can grow Bt brinjal without applying pesticides, an offi cial release said.

Even as the issues of Genetically Engineered (GE) paddy crop raised at Alandurai village here last year are still fresh in the minds of farmers and environmentalists, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has came in for severe criticism for raising Bt Brinjal using the GE technology in its premises on a trial basis. A handful of farmers and environmentalists under the banner of Tamizhaga Velan Kappu Kuzhu (Tamil Nadu Agricultural Protection Committee) entered the Bt Brinjal trial field inside the university campus without obtaining prior permission and shouted slogans against it holding placards on Friday. Vice Chancellor Prof C Ramasamy and scientists as well as the police were clueless as what to do as the majority of the activists belonged to Pasumai Thaayagam (an environmental wing of PMK. The activists stuck a banner on the entrance board of TNAU, which read the university is owned by Monsanto, a multinational company. The university has raised the Bt brinjal crop on experimental basis for Monsanto company. The university employees removed the banner on the instructions from higher authorities. R Selvam, coordinator, Erode District Organic Farmers Federation, and Sathirya Sekar of Pasumai Thaayagam, who were part of the agitating group, said that last year the same company had done the trials of Bt rice at Alandurai village in Coimbatore. They alleged that the TNAU is working for the profit of multinational company contaminating the soil and health of the people. When contacted, V-C Ramasamy said that a group of persons entered the university fields without permission creating unnecessary problems. He said that Bt cotton is a hundred percent success across the country. Following Bt cotton cultivation, the production has increased by an additional 100 lakh tonnes, he said, adding that the university is using the global technology with clear permission and sending a report to the Centre.