The Association of Biotech Led Enterprises – Special Interest Group on Agriculture Biotechnology announces the appointment of Dr. Shanthu Shantharam as its Executive Director. [...] Earlier he was a Branch Chief of the Biotechnology Regulatory Affairs at [USDA-APHIS ...] and also with Syngenta [...] as a head of Stakeholder Relations and Technology Communications, and then as a Global Head for Regulatory compliance.

The ministries of environment and science seem to have resolved their differences over who will govern the entry of genetically modified (GM) crops in India. The controversial genetic engineering approval committee, or GEAC, which currently gives the nod for the commercial release of GM crops, is likely to be integrated with a biotechnology regulator proposed by the science ministry, two ministry officials said on condition of anonymity.

Organically grown cotton is more profitable for farmers than Bt cotton, a new Greenpeace report said on Tuesday. [...] ”Our study illustrates how farmers growing GE cotton face high debts and high costs of cultivation, becoming more vulnerable to financial collapses,” Greenpeace International scientist and study author Reyes Tirado said.

A quiet but determined battle is being fought in the courts, and outside, by US agricultural biotech giant Monsanto, its Indian affiliates and seed lobbyists to free the prices of genetically modified Bt cotton from state government control. At stake is huge business running into several thousand crore of rupees, with royalty alone on the Bt cotton seeds grossing over Rs 1,500 crore [264 mill EUR] for the US firm and its Indian licencees since 2002

Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister has said that some of the multi national companies were wreaking havoc in India by spreading their tentacles through Genetically Modified food, which needs to be curbed by imposing adequate restrictions. He said that like drug mafia, seed mafia was operating in India through powerful network and strong mechanism of multi national companies.

In the cotton fields of Vidarbha in central India, grief is a constant companion. Wherever you turn, there are heart-breaking stories of suicide. In the village of Mangi, friends and family are preparing the body of Laxman Tekam for burial. [...] ”He borrowed money to buy genetically modified (GM) cotton seeds,” says his neighbour Bapuji Atram. ”There was no rain and his crop failed. So he killed himself.”

Caught in the middle of a fierce domestic debate, the Indian government is wavering over the introduction of GM aubergines – and the rest of the world is watching closely. ”Chief ministers of almost all the major aubergine-producing states declared that they would not allow the genetically modified seeds into their territory, even if the central government gave its approval.”

Giving his full support to the use of genetic engineering in agriculture, Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates today said if the world continued to produce food with existing technologies it would not be able to feed its increasing population. [...] the world needed newer crops with increased productivity, better adaptability to changing climatic conditions and the ones that use less of insecticides. And these, he said, could only be made through innovations in agricultural biotechnology sector.

Despite the high costs of Bt cotton and the problems associated with the seed, advertising campaigns and government promotion of Monsanto’s technology initially helped persuade Indian farmers to take out loans and buy the genetically modified cotton seed. On a macro level, Bt cotton has been a success in India. [...] But on a micro level, when examined from farm to farm, Monsanto’s technology has clearly offered mixed results. [...] the crop requires more water than traditional Indian seeds. Affluent farmers with irrigated fields can fully exploit the technology and profit from increased yields, and these farmers are success stories for Monsanto.

Even though environment minister Jairam Ramesh has put plans to commercially release Bt brinjal in cold storage, select government institutes and agriculture companies are unfazed. They are pushing ahead with plans to develop genetically modified versions of a variety of other food crops that could some day appear in Indian kitchens.