Monsanto Co. said Thursday that it has withdrawn an application to sell a new variety of genetically modified cotton seed in India because of its concerns over the country’s attempts to restrict the biotechnology business.

Monsanto Co has withdrawn an application seeking approval for its next generation of genetically modified cotton seeds in India, a major escalation in a long-running dispute between New Delhi and the world's biggest seed maker.

In a tiny hamlet at the heart of the cotton belt in northern India, Ramandeep Mann planted Monsanto’s (MON.N) genetically modified Bt cotton seed for over a decade, but that changed after a whitefly blight last year.

Mann’s 25-acre farm in Punjab’s Bhatinda district now boasts “desi”, or indigenous, cotton shrubs that promise good yields and pest resistance at a fraction of the cost.

Mann is not alone.

Thousands of cotton farmers across the north of India, the world’s biggest producer and second largest exporter of the fibre, have switched to the new local variety, spelling trouble for seed giant Monsanto in its most important cotton market outside the Americas.

Despite a current ban on genetically modified crops in agriculture in Switzerland, taxpayer money is being used to develop transgenic crops in India. Some outputs of this research have even been licensed to a private company with links to Monsanto.

Golden rice is a false miracle. It is a disease of nutritionally empty monocultures offered as a cure for nutritional deficiency. In fact, golden rice, if successful, will be 400% less efficient in providing Vitamin A...

NEW DELHI: After turning Sikkim into a fully organic state, India is now looking at a "cluster" approach to increase area under chemical-free farming in other states. Many states have already started earmarking exclusive organic farming zones, with Maharashtra leading the pack with 932 exclusive clusters followed by Madhya Pradesh (880), Rajasthan (755), Uttar Pradesh (575), Uttarakhand (550) and Karnataka (545).

Nagpur: There has been a major dip in the demand for genetically modified Bt cotton seeds this kharif season. The seeds that were introduced by the US multinational Monsanto in 2002 have become mainstay of cotton farming since then. This year, there has been a sharp increase in use of local varieties of cotton seeds instead of Bt in the northern states. The area seems to have gone up but the supply of indigenous seeds did not keep pace, sources said. A similar trend was expected in other cotton growing areas of the country too.

According to the figures compiled by city-based Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR), as against 3,000 odd hectares under indigenous varieties of cotton last year, there are 72,280 hectares this season in northern states. The data was collected from states' agricultural departments, said Dr Keshav Kranthi, director of CICR, a government research agency.

In a research laboratory surrounded by acres of arid land in western India, Bharat Char showed off tiny sprouts of rice, wheat and okra in glass bottles.

This small Himalayan state has been officially declared free of chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

Sunday mornings are perfect for bright sunny strolls through local farmers markets, where you can spend hours picking fresh produce. One of the reasons that people flock to these markets on their day off is because these fresh fruits and veggies are also organic.

Within the past decade or so, we’ve seen a global cultural shift towards a health conscientious mentality where eating organic food is the first step to a healthier lifestyle—it’s a great example of when you know better, you do better. We’ve come a long way from frozen entrees as being considered the healthy choice over fresh foods.

Navdanya travels to the cotton growing Malwa belt of Punjab to report the damage done by the whitefly on Bt cotton in October ’15. Despite spraying pesticides 10- 15 times, 1.2 million acres of cotton was destroyed by the whitefly, a common pest. This short film is an attempt to make the pain of the Bt Cotton farmers be heard and make the lives our farmers’ lives matter.