GM mustard delayed 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, South Korean government keen to nurture biotechnology industry South Korea is working to foster the local biotechnology industry in a bid to tap one of the fastest growing markets in the near future, according to the Korean Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy. With the aim of joining the world's top seven biotechnology powers by 2010, the ministry plans to raise the local biotechnology industry's share in the world market to 10% from the current 1.4%. To this end, the ministry plans to set up a regular biotechnology strategic conference to be presided over by the president and involving state and private agencies. It also will organize a “bio-industry roundtable” along with the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI). (Courtesy- Biotechnology Global Update, Source- http://in.tech.yahoo.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) Germany to help AP develop biotech Germany will assist Andhra Pradesh in developing biotechnology sector in the state, and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Klaus Plate, Chief Executive of Heidelberg Technology Park of Germany and S Dawan, Chief Executive of Biotech Park, Hyderabad. The MoU was signed at the recently held International Technology Conference at Toronto. The Government decided to host the Conference of International Sciences Parks Association in Hyderabad next year to highlight the initiatives of the State Government to promote the biotechnology sector in the state. (Courtesy-The Hindu) CM Chandrababu Naidu reiterates commitment to boost biotechnology The Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, has said that after years of painstaking research and development, “commercialization” of this frontier technology for the betterment of mankind was poised to grow exponentially. Mr. Naidu said biotechnology could help introduce new products and processes to give a ‘competitive edge’ over traditional ones in terms of effectiveness, productivity, cost and safety. It could help increase yields dramatically, lower labour costs and agricultural inputs, improve nutritional value of food crops, and produce environmentally benign weed and insect pest management. He was addressing scientists and entrepreneurs at a three-day International Conference in Hyderabad on “Emerging Trends in Biotechnology: Stem Cell-Technology, Potential and Trends”, organized by the All India Biotech Association, Southern Chapter jointly with the State Government and several other institutions. GMO safety certification planned for imported food The government is planning to introduce a GMO safety certification scheme for all food products being imported into the country to ensure correct labeling and protection of consumer health. Armed with this law, the government will thus be able to easily stem the inflow of any food product worrying its War Room, without reneging on India’s WTO customs tariff commitments. The government is also seeking to amend the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act to include GM certification in domestic food quality standards, but this could take another six-eight months. Labs will be set up across the country to enable port health officials, under the ministry of health, to conduct checks for GM content in imported food. China has already introduced strict GMO certification of food imports. MIDC Decides to Develop IT Infrastructure The Maharashtra government is gearing up to attract biotech companies, which are estimated to generate business opportunities of over $70bn by’05 globally. Pujabrao Krishi Vidyapith (PKV) headquartered at Akola, in south Maharashtra being first such MoU will make resources available to MIDC to develop a biotechnology park. Further, agricultural universities can raise their own resources by patenting and selling their intellectual property rights to private enterprises. The government has selected Hinjewadi, near Pune, as the venue for the state’s first IT-BT Park.
The conservation of the wild medicinal plants or other such threatened species can be tackled by scientific techniques. more info... Plans to give fillip to R&D in bio-technology in agriculture Karnataka State Government had plans to promote biotechnology in agriculture. The Government had constituted an Agriculture Commission headed by the former Vice-Chancellor of University of Agriculture Sciences (UAS) for this purpose. more info... Use of Biological control agents in agriculture Biological control agent is any agent who is non-chemical and natural and acts to control the incidence of disease or pest. Biological control agents could be that of antagonist agents. more info... NHB plans net foray to promote horticulture industry There is a huge potential for horticulture in India.To promote the horticulture industry in India, the National Horticulture Board is planning a web foray, the board was also planning to launch a series of CD-ROMs featuring details of various horticulture products. more info... Containment Glasshouse for transgenic plants A ‘Containment Glasshouse" covering about 1200 sq.ft. for transgenic plants has been established in Hyderabad by the international Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). more info... UNDP estimates more profit in Transgenic crops Transgenic seeds with increased yields ensures food security and eliminate the ill-effects of indiscriminate pesticide use, estimated by agencies like United Nations Development Programme. Use of insect-resistant vegetables would provide significant profit to farmers, intangible health benefits to people and a cleaner environment. more info... Spic to focus on tissue culture bananas The southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation’s (Spic) agro biotech centre has identified tissue culture in bananas as a major thrust area. more info... Commissioning of biotechnology centre at Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh State is planning to set up a biotechnology centre and turns to horticulture sector in a big way. It is a major thrust to setup a biotechnology centre in Hyderabad with a tissue-culture bank of a million strains of crops ranging from turmeric to banana, as also ornamental plants. The centre will also provide leaf, water and soil testing facilities. more info... Two biotech projects for North Karnataka An important fall-out of the Global Investors Meet (GIM) are the significant investment proposals received from industries using bio-technology. The Principal Secretary for Industries and Commerce, Mr. B.S.Patil, said that investments exceeding Rs. 200 crore were being cleared for biotechnology based industries to be set up in Belgaum and Bagalkot in Northern Karnataka. He said, two industrial units that would develop genetically engineered seeds and supply them to farmers and alter purchase the grown vegetables for processing and export, would come up in Belgaum. The vegetables would be dehydrated, frozen and packaged by the companies. One of these units would have an investment of Rs. 5 crore and the other, Rs.5.50 crore. A larger industrial project to extract bio-proteins apart from oil from sunflower seeds would be set up at Bagalkot with NRI investment of Rs.195 crore. The sunflower plants would be grown under stringent conditions with seeds developed by the company. This industry would use biotechnology for food processing. |
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