The 6.5bn euro Proagro seed company has cried foul over the government’s decision to defer clearance for cultivation of genetically modified (GM) mustard, saying commercial growth of these seeds is now not possible before ’04. “Deferring government’s clearance means even if the nod comes in the next meeting of the Genetically Engineered Approval Committee (GEAC) commercialization of GM mustard will be only in ’04 or beyond,’ Proagro managing director Clive J Pegg said.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, 2nd December 2002
(Website : www.economictimes.com)

Study shows biotech crops good for consumers, farmers and the environment

Last year, genetically enhanced crops in the US produced higher yields than conventional varieties, increased farmers income and reduced pesticide use, according to a comprehensive study by the non-profit National Centre for Food and Agriculture Policy. The report looked at 27 different crops including biotech soybeans, corn, cotton, papaya and canola and found that the modified crops, increased farmers earnings by $1.5 billion and cut pesticide use by 46 million pounds.

(Courtesy- Biotechnology Global Update, Source-“Canada: Biotech Crops Boost Farm Income, Yields- US Study,” Reuters)

India forging ahead in biotech

The Indian biotechnology industry, which stands sixth in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of the number of companies, is poised to emerge as a significant force on the global biotech map, says a report by global consultants, Ernst and Young. Although India is far behind Australia and Korea, a rapid growth is forecast for the biotech industry in the country due to rising public interest in the sector, growing investments by traditional business houses and tax incentives.

(Courtesy- The Hindu, June 23rd 2002)

The Minister of state for Rural Development, Annasaheb M K Patil, has proposed wasteland development to grow non-edible oilseeds used in the manufacture of bio-diesel which can, in time, replace diesel. Bio-diesel is an efficient, clean, non-toxic, biodegradable 100% natural energy alternative to petroleum fuels. A project in manufacture of bio-diesel is being undertaken by the scientists of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, with the help of the Department of Non-Conventional Energy Sources and the Rural Development Department of Karnataka. India had vast tracts of degraded lands, mostly in areas with diverse agro-climatic conditions, where hardy tree borne oil species such as Jatropha, Karanja, Mahua, Jojoba etc., could be grown.

(Courtesy- The Hindu)

TAPOVAN IS a village near Rishikesh in the Dehradun area of Uttaranchal. Its fame comes from the highly prized Basmati rice it produces. Dr. R.K. Singh, U.S. Singh and G.S. Khush, who have edited the eminently readable book called "Aromatic Rices" (Oxford IBH, New Delhi, 2000) detail the essential characteristics of the Basmati, the Jasmine rice of Thailand and other scented rices of South and Southeast Asia. There are over 2000 cultivars of rice known in the world. All aromatic rices of Southern and Southeastern Asia originated in the Himalayan foothills of U.P., Bihar and Terai Nepal, and dispersed out of here. Of these, the most talked about today is the Basmati rice. The Bas comes from the Sanskrit root Vas from fragrance and mati, a corruption from may up for ingrained or inborn. Dr. V. P. Singh of IARI writes in the above book that though as many as 86 varieties have been classified as basmati, only 18 of them qualify under the strict basmati standards. And what are these characteristics? Length is one; the grain should be long (6.61 - 7.5 mm) or very long (more than 7.50 mm). Shape or length-to-width ratio is another. This needs to be over 3.0 in order to qualify as basmati. The colour of a basmati is translucent, creamy white. Upon cooking, the texture should be firm and tender without splitting, and it should be non-sticky. (This quality is derived from the amylose content in the rice. If this value is 20-22 per cent, the cooked rice does not stick. The glutinous, sticky variety preferred by the chopsticks users has 0-19 per cent amylose). The rice elongates almost twice upon cooking but does not fatten much. And the most characteristic of them all is the aroma. Incidentally, the aroma in Basmati arises from a cocktail of 100 compounds - hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes and esters. A particular molecule of note, detected by Dr. R.G. Buttery and others, is 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline.

More than fifteen insect pests attack betelvine, of which the linear scale insect (Lepidosaphes cornutus) is a serious pest in South India. It infects the leaves, petiole and main vines and results in 30-35% yield loss. The scale insects are either light brown or dark brown in colour. Both the nymphs (crawlers) and adults suck the sap and the infested leaves lose their colour, exhibit waxy/ warty appearance, crinkle and dry up ultimately in case of severe damage. Infected leaves lose their market value. Effective pest management: Scale free vines should be selected for planting and ensure field sanitation.
-Remove and destroy severely affected vines.
-Spray either 5 per cent neem seed kernel extract or 2 per cent neem oil emulsion or chlorpyriphos 20EC at 2 ml per litre of water with 1g. of khadi soap for every litre of spray solution, using a hand operated high volume sprayer, to the point of run off, with due precaution and repeat the spray after 21 days if necessary.
- Bio control agents viz., predatory coccinellids Chilocorus nigritus and Scymnus also take care of this scale control.

There’s new hope for rubber growers. If all goes well, natural rubber will soon find utility in scores of micro dams that are built to generate hydel power across rivers in Kerala and elsewhere in the country. The Steel Industrials Kerala (Silk) has tied up with Austrian company Hydro Construct for building “Rubber dams”, which are considerably cheaper than conventional concrete dams besides being environment-friendly. Rubber dams can also be shifted around when water level in a river drops, provided the site parameters are similar. MD of Silk, said rubber dams could also be used for catchment of water without disturbing the ecological conditions, for power generation through small hydel projects. Hydro Construct claims to have over 25 years’ expertise in the construction of rubber dams and have built these dams in about 60 countries. Rubber dams have proven to be ideal for total water resource management including ground water recharging and flood control, besides hydel power generation. For Kerala, the rubber dams will be of special significance since they can be built on brooks and rivers and also utilizes natural rubber which has been experiencing dull demand in recent times.

Moisture conservation is one of the major dryland technologies to obtain sustainable yield of the rainfed crops. Cotton, being an important cash crop, requires moisture during the advanced vegetative stage and reproductive stage under dryland condition. Bio-mulching during the critical stages will be of much use of reducing such loss. They were cut and spread in between cotton rows on 30 days after sowing. The available soil moisture was monitored periodically at 15 cm, 30 cm and 45 cm depths. Different leguminous intercrops taken as bio-mulches in between cotton in dryland vertisol condition viz. cowpea, soybean, greengram, blackgram, sunnhemp, daincha. It was found out that bio-mulching with Sunnhemp recorded significantly higher soil moisture.