Agriculture Industry
Done with UB Group, MCF gears up to take on fertiliser rivalsedit
Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers (MCF) has shrugged off its innings with the UB Group and is all set to enter the big league of fertiliser majors. MCF Managing Director Suresh Krishnan told BusinessLine the company plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore over three years to set up a phosphatic fertiliser plant as well as improve its energy efficiency levels. MCF, now a subsidiary of Zuari Fertilisers and Chemicals, an Adventz Group company, plans to set up a new manufacturing facility to produce 700,000 tonnes of phosphatics a year in Mangaluru, Krishnan said.
Govt will soon remove disparities in crop insurance: Krishna Byre Gowdaedit
Speaking at the inauguration of the annual Krishi Mela at the University of Agricultural Sciences-Dharwad (UAS-D) Mr. Gowda declared the Krishi Mela open in absence of Chief Minister, Byre Gowda said farmers growing chilli, paddy and cotton had not yet received crop insurance as insurance firms had raised objections regarding the survey of the damaged crop. The State government will seek the intervention of the Centre in case the insurance agencies continue to be reluctant to pay the amount. The State government was committed to apply all efforts to see that chilli, paddy and cotton growers too receive insurance amount at the earliest, he said.
Could Mustard be India’s second genetically modified crop to be cultivated?edit
The approval of GM Mustard has attracted some sharp criticism as well. Prominent voices include Vandana Shiva, the notable environmental scientist, who maintains that the use of GM Mustard will badly hamper the indigenous mustard growth. And that the genetically modified crop will monopolize the field throwing out its competitors. She fears that GM mustard is actually a Bayer mustard (a Life science company based in Germany) which will try to penetrate through Indian patent laws (which prohibits seeds and plants from being patented). This royalty might lead to the shooting of the prices of seeds. And add to the plight of indebted farmers who end up committing suicide. It is important to note here that since ...
SEA for GM seeds, corporate farming to revive oilseeds outputedit
Secondly, the government should consider allowing GM seeds. “The dilly dallying regarding introduction of GM seeds needs to end. Why should the country be deprived of technological innovations due to opposition from a vociferous minority. This needs to end…,” he said. Thirdly, the SEA President said the government should do away with the Essential Commodities Act as this law is “antifarmer” and does not allow price discovery.
GM seeds, corp farming to boost oilseeds output’edit
Government Should Allow genetically modified seeds as well as corporate farming and remove market barriers to boost oilseeds output and cut the country’s import dependence on edible oils, industry body SEA said on Monday. Amid rise in edible oil consumption, the declining oilseeds cultivation needs to be addressed on a serious note for which farming needs to made more remunerative, it said.
Genetically Modified Food Goes Unchecked In Indiaedit
According to reports by the Asian Age genetically modified (GM) food is going unchecked in India. “There are certain GM food which we are told is coming in as a mixed form in some of the imports that is happening,” an official of the department of health research told the parliamentary panel, chaired by Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury, which recently submitted a report on “Genetically modified crops and its impact on environment.”