PICKING UP the cudgel for farmers protesting against genetically-modified (GM) rice, the Chhattisgarh government on Thursday destroyed a field on the outskirts Raipur, where field trials of GM rice were in progress. It also questioned the Centre on “allowing the trials without informing the state government”. State agriculture secretary, Pankaj Diwedi told the Hindustan Times that the ministry of environment and forests was holding “casual” trials. “But they should have written to us informing that the state has been selected for GM trials,” Diwedi said.

Rice farmers, who fear about their exports, have burned down such field trials by Monsanto's Mahyco company in India. And Robert Zeigler, director-general of the Manila-based International Rice Research Institute, says: “There is neither environmental assessment, nor human food safety assessment available for Bt rice. Proper precautions must be taken.”

NEW DELHI, NOV 22: The delay in the release of provitamin A rich Golden Rice for mass cultivation in India has led to an avoidable loss of 240,000 lives, says the co-inventor of the product Ingo Potrykus. The transgenic Golden Rice contains two novel genes - one from maize and other from a soil bacterium. It does not contain an antibiotic resistance marker gene.

While GMO critics have warned about GMO rice trials by Monsanto's Mahyco company in India, now rice farmers, who fear about their exports, have burned down such field trials in Haryana, India. And Robert Zeigler, director-general of the Manila-based International Rice Research Institute, says: “There is neither environmental assessment, nor human food safety assessment available for Bt rice. Proper precautions must be taken.”

NEW DELHI, NOV 20: India has called upon other biodiversity-rich countries to work out a model for cooperation and make common efforts for conservation of biological diversity, ensuring biosafety and development. Inaugurating an international conference on the implications of the Cartagena Protocol on biosafety in Capital on Monday, the environment and forests minister A Raja said,"As responsible members of the international community that harbours the major part of the world's biodiversity, I would appeal to make our common biosafety concerns and our common desire for development of a model for cooperation."

CHENNAI: With farmers all over the State threatening a "war unto the finish" against genetically engineered crops, the State Government on Thursday said it had an "open mind" on the issue and would allow the crops only if they were proved to have no demonstrable side effects. "The company [Monsanto-Mahyco] approached us with a request to test the crops. The trial is only in the research phase now and the results will be sent to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and, later, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, to decide if the crops are harmful to farmers or not. We will go by whatever the committee decides. If the council gives a negative report, we will not allow cultivation in the State," Agriculture Minister Veerapandi Arumugam told The Hindu .

Chennai, Nov 18: Seeking a ban on the field tests of genetically modified paddy varieties in the country, AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa said researchers should focus on seed varieties which protect soil fertility and give more yield. Charging multi-national companies with "selling poisonous BT seeds banned in Japan and European countries", she said these seeds would affect the fertility of the soil. Paddy grown out of genetically modified seeds would harm human beings as well as animals and birds, she said.

CHENNAI: Representatives of the Tamil Nadu Velan Kappu Kuzhu said on Wednesday they would not allow genetically engineered crops to be tested or cultivated anywhere in Tamil Nadu. "We are ready to face any consequence in our fight against these crops, which endanger food security and poison the environment. If need be, we will confiscate GE seeds from shops that sell them and destroy them," K. Chellamuthu, chairman, Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, told reporters.

‘Future of Rice’ highlights alternatives to genetic engineering in the lab and field

Chennai, India — New, environmentally sustainable and consumer-friendly technologies effectively render the imprecise Genetic Engineering (GE) technology both obsolete and unnecessary, according to a new report released today by Greenpeace.

Observers of the saga of genetically modified cotton, or Bt cotton, in India would have felt a sense of déjà vu when Bharatiya Kisan Union activists recently torched a field growing genetically modified rice in Haryana. Back in November 28, 1998, farmers belonging to the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha torched a field growing Bt cotton in Karnataka, launching Operation Cremate Monsanto—a protest movement targeting the US multinational that introduced this technology into India in collaboration with its seed partner Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Ltd (Mahyco).