2010-08-23 | permalink

BRAI Bill jeopardises traditional agriculture in India

re-introducing Bt brinjal??

The proposed Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) provokes strong reactions in India. The Bill proposes a centralized technocratic authority to approve GM (genetically modified) crops with no involvement of elected governments, said Mr Rajesh Krishnan, Greenpeace Campaigns Manager. The Madhya Pradesh government has reacted strongly and suspects the effort to re-introduce Bt brinjal. “It will have disastrous consequences for Indian Agriculture, which still relies heavily on traditional technologies. It will take the control of food from the farmer and give it to multinational corporations, who will enslave our agriculture,” said State Agriculture Minister Ramakrishna Kusumaria.

• The Hindu Business Line: Greenpeace assails BRAI Bill
• The Hindu, India: M.P. opposes setting up of biotech regulatory authority

2010-08-17 | permalink

US Judge bans GM sugar beet, denies injunction

beet

US Federal Court in California banned any new plantings of Monsanto’s GM “Roundup Ready” sugar beet for the foreseeable future. but denied an injunction that could have required the destruction of seed crops planted in the past few days. A federal judge has revoked the government's approval of genetically altered sugar beets until regulators complete a more thorough review of how the scientifically engineered crops affect other food.

• Food Safety News, USA: GM sugar beets put back under USDA regulation
• The Associated Press, USA: Judge's ruling uproots use of biotechnology beets
• The Center for Food Safety, USA: Federal Court rescinds USDA approval of genetically engineered sugar beets

2010-08-11 | permalink

Department of Agriculture in the Philippines laughs about health concerns on Bt eggplant

the representative of the Department of Agriculture in the Philippines

Scientific studies about the Indian Bt eggplant demonstrated that it is unfit for human consumption and detrimental to a healthy environment as cited by the Indian government in rejecting the release of Bt eggplant. This evidence should have already compelled Joel S. Rudinas the representative of the Department of Agriculture in the Philippines to stop the field tests.

Support the Petition to stop Bt eggplant in the Philippines!!!

• Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment, Philippines (SEARICE): Urging DA Secretary Proseco Alcala to stop field testing and eventual commercialization of Bt eggplant
• Manila Bulletin, Philippines: Lobby groups hit for GMO eggplant issue
• Dateline Philippines: Farmers protest BT eggplant testing

2010-08-11 | permalink

Fighting GM maize in Italy

On Monday 70 anti-GM activists destroyed a GM maize field in Italy and effectively prevented harvest. Although there is no outright ban on the cultivation of GM crops in Italy, a long-running legal tangle effectively prevents farmers from doing so. As the second-largest producer of organic crops in Europe, the issue of GM contamination is particularly explosive in Italy.

• CommonDreams.org: Italian Activists Storm Field

2010-08-10 | permalink

Wild GM Canola in the USA

Wild GM canola found in the USA

Scientists at the University of Arkansas identified genes from GM-canola in wild plant populations in the United States. Wild canola was found at almost half of the tested sites along the highway. About 83 percent of the weedy canola contained transgenic material. Wild canola contained herbicide resistance genes from genetically modified canola. Further, some of the plants contained resistance to both herbicides, a combination of transgenic traits that had not been developed in canola crops. "That's not commercially available. That has to be happening in the wild," said Schafer, from the University of Arkansas.

• University of Arkansas: First Wild Canola Plants With Modified Genes Found in United States
• British Broadcasting Corporation, UK (BBC): GM plants ‘established in the wild’
• Nature News, UK: GM crop escapes into the American wild