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Cotton
Diminishing returns
Issue Date: Sep 15, 2009
Wilted crops dot the countryside; farmers cry for water, electricity
"August is the time when we have at least 3.5 feet (one metre) tall bajra, but this year the land looks as barren as nothing has ever been sown here," said Mewa Singh. "It drizzled just once in July. I have never seen this in 50 years of my life."
South Asia
Issue Date: Aug 31, 2009
BT damage: Thirty per cent cottonseed pods of Bt cotton were damaged in Pakistan's southern Punjab cotton belt due to water shortage. Indus River System Authority released only 5,000 cusecs of water against a demand of 18,000 cusecs by the Punjab government. As a result, the canals had 40 per cent less water; tubewells were rendered useless due to long power cuts.
Not making the grade
@AparnaPallavi1 Issue Date: Dec 31, 2008
Flawed grading prevents Vidarbha cotton farmers from getting the highest-ever support price
On December 4, some 200 farmers arrived at the cotton procurement centre in Yavatmal tehsil of Maharashtra, with about 60 tonnes of cotton
loaded in carts and tractor trolleys. They demanded the minimum support price (msp) of Rs 3,000 per 100 kg
Bt's soil chemistry
Issue Date: Oct 31, 2008
It does kill the nasty bollworm. What about friendly microbes?
The GM snare
Issue Date: Sep 15, 2008
Measures to test GM crops for safety leave a lot to be desired
In comments bearing direct relevance for India, Prince Charles, heir to British throne, launched a scathing attack on gm
crops, calling them the "biggest disaster of all time". Indians should not be losing sleep over a statement of the British
monarch-in-the-making. But if one examines development on the gm front in the country, there is certainly cause for
GM fields
Issue Date: Sep 15, 2008
Despite a ban, Bt cotton cultivation is widespread in Orissa
the recent death of 93 goats after grazing near a cotton field in Bolangir, a tribal-dominated district in Orissa, has put the authorities on alert. The field in Kuthurla village, Khaprakhol block, was reportedly under Bt cotton cultivation. The state government discourages cultivation of Bt cotton as a matter of policy.
Pyrrhic victory
Issue Date: Aug 31, 2008
The US steals Kamal Nath's party in Geneva
GM cotton less profitable than non-GM variety
Issue Date: Apr 15, 2008
will genetically modified plants give the farmer better profits? Results from a study published in the January-February 2008 issue of Agronomy Journal say no.
The study shows that Bt cotton is less profitable than a non-Bt variety in "any year or location". The research comes when companies and governments are promoting Bt cotton.
Bollworm ignores high doses of insecticide
Issue Date: Mar 15, 2008
when genetically modified (gm) plants were introduced in 1996, some researchers said pests were too smart to be controlled and would eventually develop resistance. There is now evidence that the cotton pest, bollworm, has done this in less then a decade.
Punjab takes precautions for mealy bug attack
Issue Date: Jan 15, 2008
the Punjab government has stepped up measures to avert the occurrence of a mealy bug attack, which claimed 5-7
per cent cotton crops in 2007. The state government is worried because field officers from the Punjab Agriculture Department found traces of mealy
bug in wheat in a few villages. Another reason for the department's fear is a study by the Stony Brook University, New York, which indicated that
