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A parliamentary standing committee headed by Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury has asked the environment ministry to hold clearance for the commercialization of genetically modified (GM) mustard crop as the panel is looking into the issue.

DNA

Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday presented his ministry?s report card for last three years and asserted that the interests of farmers and consumers have been high on the agenda of Narendra Modi led Union Government.

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The companies, among which is Monsanto-Mahyco, meet at least 70% of the Bt cotton seed requirement in the state. The total sale of such seeds in the state is estimated at 10 million packets a year of 450g each, amounting to Rs 800 crore. The order was issued by the Director of Agriculture (I & QC), commissionerate of agriculture, Pune.

Business Standard

NITI Aayog, the government’s policy analysis and formulation arm, has come under some criticism on recent stands it has taken, with some alleging a bias on corporate interests. Arvind Panagariya, the vice-chairman, defends himself to Sanjeeb Mukherjee & Indivjal Dhasmana. Edited excerpts: In recent weeks, NITI Aayog’s stand on delinking the list of essential medicines from the Drug Price Control Order and on endorsing locally grown and genetically modified (GM) crops is being interpreted in some quarters as favouring of corporates.

The Hindu Business Line

One of the major achievements of the NDA government in the agricultural sector was the setting up of an electronic National Agriculture Market. It has so far linked over 200 mandis across India and aims to integrate all 585 wholesale markets or agricultural produce market committees in the near future. However, experts say that only a miniscule quantity of agricultural produce is traded through this virtual platform. Even though the BJP manifesto promised to implement the MS Swaminathan Committee recommendation to increase Minimum Support Price to 50 per cent over the cost, no efort has been taken so far. In fact, it said it is not possible to do so as it ...

First Post

As the impact of the worst northeast monsoon in 140 years unfolds across Tamil Nadu, farmers sowed a third less land than they did in 2015-16, water levels in six major reservoirs continued to plunge, and suicides in the farm sector increased over five years. In the midst of this agrarian turmoil in a state that produced 5.6 percent of India’s rice in 2014-15, the agriculture ministry has predicted a record national harvest.

Nyoooz

Ending decades-old curbs imposed by the seminal Kerala Land Reforms Act , the state is planning to frame a new law , and amend relevant existing laws, to allow licensed leasing of agricultural land , a step that could help reverse the trend of dwindling area under cultivation. According to sources in the agriculture department, the land under cultivation in the state has shrunk from close to eight lakh hectares in the 1970s to 1.8 lakh hectares and, through this initiative, it can be increased to three lakh hectares.

MINT

Currently, states use Crop Cutting Experiments (CCE) to estimate yields of farm produce, as prescribed by Delhi-based Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute (IASRI) under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), according to IASRI director U.C. Sud. “It is a standard methodology that all states implement on our instructions to make yield estimates. We factor in a standard sampling error of 5-10%,” he added.

The New Indian Express

A  farmer, on noticing something wrong with his crop, uses a smartphone application and clicks a picture. He then visits the local pesticide trader who is unable to coax the farmer anymore into buying anything more than he needs. The farmer, using the smartphone application aided by Artificial Intelligence (AI), is now able to decide for himself what is best for his crop.

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The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has approved the commercial production of genetically modified (GM) mustard, a crop which been developed by team of scientists from Delhi University (DU). Experts opined that this was a first step towards allowing GM crops in India. The decision has not been communicated officially yet. According to GEAC, it will now be sent to the ministry of environment for a final nod.

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A CPI (M)-backed farmers body today strongly objected to India’s GM crop regulator recommending commercial use of genetically modified mustard. The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has asked the government to not allow the same before the grievances on its health and environment concerns were resolved. The AIKS stressed that it was not against any scientific upgradation in the agriculture sector, but said the government should not provide “benefits” to corporate houses involved in agro-chemical business at the cost of public interest.

Deccan Herald

GM mustard has been indigenously developed by scientists at the Delhi University, so there is no scope for the apprehension that farmers will be at the mercy of multinationals like Monsanto which will control the supply of seeds or otherwise exploit the farmers. There is the need to increase India’s edible oil production as the country is largely dependent on imports to meet the rising demand. GM mustard has been proven to increase yields by 30% and will reduce farming costs. It has been declared ready for commercial use after years of extensive tests in labs and on farms. All the safety-related data has also been placed in the public realm for scrutiny.

Indian Express

Even as clamour for farm loan waiver grows to afford temporary relief to farmers amid volatility in commodity prices and poor returns from farm produce, the state is facing a problem of increased fragmentation of agricultural land. Smaller plots not just bring down agricultural productivity, but also affects farmers’ economies adversely. According to the latest Agricultural Census of 2010-11, in Maharashtra — which is one of the fastest urbanising states — a total of 1.371 crore land holdings spread over 2 crore hectares of land have come down by 0.12 per cent to 1.369 crore.

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Last week, the Maharashtra government suspended the licence of 17 companies for the sale of genetically modified (Bt) cotton seed, because samples of refugia or non-Bt hybrids, taken in May-July of 2016, have apparently shown the presence of Bt seed. The companies, among which is Monsanto-Mahyco, meet at least 70% of the Bt cotton seed requirement in the state. The total sale of such seeds in the state is estimated at 10 million packets a year of 450g each, amounting to Rs 800 crore.

Insights On India

An agreement to develop Bt brinjal was signed in 2005 between Mahyco—American agricultural biotech giant Monsanto’s Indian Bt cotton partner—and two Indian agricultural universities. Following the study of biosafety data and field trials by two expert committees, Bt brinjal was cleared for commercialization by India’s top biotech regulator, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee, in 2009. But nothing came of it, with moratoriums imposed by then government following opposition from civil society groups and brinjal-growing states.