Village approaches police to stop cultivation of GM rice

THE first thing to note about the Mulkanoor cooperative is that it is an exception, not the rule. Given the otherwise dismal state of the cooperative movement in India, how many cooperative societies can boast of a turnover in excess of Rs 55 crore? Or have one of its members go on to become the prime minister of the country (P V Narasimha Rao, in this case)? Or not have a single defaulter on the roll of its hundreds of borrowers, with total lending in a year exceeding Rs 20 crore? Or have operations ranging from dairies to a modern rice mill.

It's not routine for organic to get a bad press. But when quixotic officials turn it into an article of faith without doing the homework, the repercussions can be seriously debilitating. Take the

India co ordinator of irri, talks to Down To Earth, on India s role in the new rice research order

farms in the terai region of Uttar Pradesh were enveloped by fog this August. Fog is not unusual in this part of the country but it usually starts happening in winter, mostly in late December and

India will host the second International Rice Congress from October 9-13 in New Delhi. This is the most important event in the calendar of rice research since the International Year of Rice in 2004.

scientists have identified a gene present in hardy varieties of rice that enables the crop to tolerate flooded conditions. The researchers