trial and error: The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee has approved large-scale trial of Bt Brinjal, the first ever genetically modified food crop. This comes on the heel of a latest ASSOCHAM report that says Bt Cotton has been a great success. The Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA), Secunderabad, has issued a rejoinder on the report objecting the way the study has been designed, data analysed, presented and conclusions made. "We have data from the state government, which says that three non-Bt cotton growing states were better off among six cotton growing states in India," said CSA's Kavitha Kuruganti.
killer pesticide: Endosulfan recently killed one farmer and affected others working on coffee and banana crops in Quindio in Colombia. There were reports that said the farmers did not use masks while using the lethal pesticide. A separate study showed higher incidences of autism in areas where endosulfan and difocol were applied.
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