Mahyco pays Mahyco was made to pay Rs 2 crore to farmers as compensation following complaints of Bt cotton crop failure in Dharmapuri and Salem districts in Tamil Nadu. At least 4,000 farmers were affected by the crop failure in these districts. Some of them had lodged FIRs against the company. The state government had constituted an enquiry committee to ascertain the reasons for crop failure and later slapped a ban on seeds sold by Mahyco in the state. The government has now lifted the ban, after Mahyco paid compensation to the affected farmers.


Centre to respond on GM On February 15, the Supreme Court asked the Union government to file a detailed report on ongoing genetic field trials. The Centre has to file the report by April. The order follows a recent hearing of a public interest petition filed by anti-GM activist Aruna Rodrigues and others demanding a complete moratorium on genetic trials.The petitioners argued that GM crops are dangerous to biodiversity.