I.                 Questions asked by the parliamentary panel Bt Cotton: failed promises! New Delhi: A parliamentary panel has called for an in-depth probe into the agriculture ministry’s role in the government’s decision to approve the commercial release of Bt Cotton in the country in 2002. According to the parliamentary standing committee on agriculture, the department of agriculture has not discharged its mandated responsibility in a professional manner as far as the introduction of trans genic agricultural crops in India are concerned. “It has to be found... 

Monsanto and the arrogance of failure: 3 Case Studies!   I: Monsanto in Andhra Pradesh… Dwindling production, rising costs, new diseases: ten years after genetically-modified cotton was introduced in India with high hopes of boosting the economy, farmers are deeply disappointed with its results and wondering if it was all worth it. Ten years after its debut, genetically modified cotton is a huge disappointment.  Plants are vulnerable to new diseases, yields are far lower than expected. The Andhra Pradesh state government recently announced that the 2011 harvest was much lower than...