Arcadia Biosciences, Inc., an agricultural technology company focused on developing technologies and products that benefit the environment and human health, and Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company Ltd. (MAHYCO), one of the largest seed companies in India, today announced that they have concluded a multi-crop, multi-technology research and commercial license agreement focused on India and other South Asian countries. Under the agreement, MAHYCO will have access to Arcadia’s Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) and Salt Tolerance technologies in several key crops in the region.

Field trials of genetically modified crops in Nadia are being conducted illegally by the subsidiary of an American biotech company, and these trials violate bio-safety regulations, says a report submitted by the principal agricultural officer to the district magistrate. [...] The issue of banning trials of GM seeds in open fields may also come up when members of the agricultural commission meet the chief minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, on 15 April to discuss the interim report submitted by the commission. The commission has unanimously recommended a ban on open field trials of GM seeds in the state.

Nearly 150 farmers ended a rally here Saturday after marching through five states opposing the government policy on genetically modified seeds and seeking attention to the plight of peasants in the country. The Bija Satyagraha Yatra (non-violent seed march) that started from Champaran in Bihar March 26 and moved though Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. ”We started our movement from Gandhiji’s favourite Champaran and ended in Rajghat, his samadhi. We strictly kept it a farmers’ movement and discussed related issues across our route,” said renowned activist Vandana Shiva.

After persistently refusing right to information applications seeking access to the toxicity and allergenicity data relating to genetically modified crops, the Centre on Tuesday agreed before the SC to make these public, much to the joy of anti-GM crop campaigners. The government’s refusal to part with this information had led to petitions filed by NGO ”Gene Campaign” and Aruna Rodrigues, who alleged that the data had vital bearing on the safety of human beings and environs.

Addressing an anti-GM protest meet here today, farmer leaders of all major farmers’ organizations in the state of Andhra Pradesh demanded that the AP government take a clear anti-GM stand and ban GM crop trials in the state as has been done in other states like Kerala and Orissa. The protest has been organized by the Coalition for a GM-Free AP, a network of civil society organizations and farmers’ groups. Speaking on the occasion, Sarampalli Mallareddy, Vice President, All India Kisan Sabha (affiliated to CPM) said, ”When the first trials of Bt Cotton began in the state and the country, the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh passed a resolution against any GM crops and their trials in the state. Any cultivation or trials in the state of such crops is therefore illegal”.

Stepping up the protest against genetically modified seeds, a petition signed by 30,000 farmers of the state, intellectuals and activists has been submitted to the state government on the eve of the ”Peoples No Genetic Engineering Day’ which is to be observed tomorrow.

ON APRIL 23, the Delhi High Court will hear a case that is being dubbed as a ”conflict between commercial interests and public health”. There are two main players: the Central Information Commission (CIC) and the Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Corporation Company (MAHYCO). Fearing that its data on field trials of genetically modified food crops will become public, the company in December 2007 had filed a petition against the commission in the high court. The petition followed a Right To Information (RTI) application. Divya Raghunandan of the international NGO Greenpeace had sought disclosure of GM food trials in the country.

Agriculture biotechnology which has been creating news by making disease resistant grains, fruits, oilseeds and vegetables, and cash crops like cotton through genetic modification is finding its way in a big way into the $49 billion cut flower industry. Genetic modification techniques are used to create new varieties and new colours in traditional export-oriented flowers like roses.

”Genetic modification techniques are used for breeding unique shape, colour and scent in addition to the usual breeding objectives of pest and disease resistance,” says the international service for the acquisition of agribiotech applications (ISAAA).

An Indian scientist in the forefront of global RNAi research, who in 1997 showed for the first time that genes could be silenced in fruit flies, is trying to use this technology to develop better diagnostics for cancer, moving, as it were, up against the stream as most of the global patents are held by just two companies. ”It’s very difficult to develop new therapeutics with RNAi as most of the patents are owned by US-based Sirna Therapeutics Inc., and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc.,” said Utpal Bhadra, a senior scientist at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad.

It’s a classic case of commercial interest vs public interest which could set an important precedent. Genetically modified brinjal — expected to be the country’s first edible GM crop — could find its way to your plate soon. But first, Delhi high court will have to decide whether the company conducting its field trials can keep data on health and environment safety tests out of the public domain on the grounds that the information is a ”trade secret”.