Mela begins with a call to promote millets

The Hindu | STAFF REPORTER |BANGALORE, February 6, 2011

Farmers from Karnataka, neighbouring States are taking part

The two-day ‘Siridhaanya Mela' (millet mela) began at Gandhi Bhavan here on Saturday. Farmers from across the State and a handful from other States are participating in the event.

The mela has been jointly organised by the National Agricultural Innovation Project, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Pristine Organics and Sahaja Organics.

Anil Kumar, coordinator of Millet Network of Karnataka, told The Hindu that area under millet cultivation had decreased drastically over the years. Quoting statistics complied by the Millets Network of India, he said between 1956 and 1961, millets were cultivated on 36.2 million hectares in the country. This came down to 21.31 million hectares during 2001-06.

“With the decrease in the area of cultivation, several varieties of millet such as akale, same, navane and oodalu have become rare. These varieties are not easily available even in agricultural universities. It is, therefore, important to preserve these traditional varieties,” he said.

He said that millets must be promoted through the Public Distribution System. “Since they are high in nutrition, millets can be included in the food served in hostels and anganwadis. This will also help farmers cultivating millets,” he added.

K.C. Raghu from Pristine Organics said food security was confined to wheat and rice. “We have an enormous insecurity with regard to oil seeds, pulses and millets. The death of diversity includes death of languages, heritage, ethos, traditions and food crops… all in the name of modernity, development and increasing GDP,” he said.

“Millets are more nutritious than wheat and rice, but there is not enough information about their nutritional factors.” Rama K. Nayak from UAS, Dharwad, N.R. Shetty from Sahaja Samrudha, and Vijay Jardai from Beej Bachao Andolan in Uttarakhand, were present.

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Two-day event is being held at Gandhi Bhavan

‘Area under millet cultivation has decreased drastically over the years'

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/mela-begins-with-a-call-to-promote-millets/article1160915.ece

'Wild relatives' can save our food supply, says crop diversity group

AGRICULTURE |

• Date 22.12.2010

Climate change threatens many of the world's main food crops, which are designed for maximum yields under particular conditions. One group says the genetic variety of wild crops could help adapt them to the future.

Small temperature changes have big effects on rice crops

Domesticated varieties of rice, wheat, maize and potatoes make up much of the world's food crops and are bred to thrive under certain conditions.

However, some experts warn that these crops could become vulnerable to global warming as optimal conditions change across the planet.

Climate change is expected to have multiple impacts on agricultural productivity, especially in areas of the developing world that are already experiencing high levels of food insecurity.

For example, in southern Africa, the yields for maize, a vital crop in a region already suffering from chronic hunger, are predicted to fall by up to 30 percent within just 20 years.

A growing population will put added pressure on the food supply. The world's population is expected to exceed 9 billion people by 2050, which will require an estimated 70 percent increase in global agricultural production, according to the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Making use of the genetic variety contained in wild crops – the ancestors of today's food crops – could help secure the world's food supply by helping modern crops adapt to climate change, according to the Global Crop Diversity Trust.

Tough ancestors for a harsh climate

Wild seeds have the traits needed to deal with climate change, Fowler said

In partnership with the Millennium Seed Bank of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, England, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, and $50 million (38 million euros) of funding from the government of Norway, the Trust has launched a campaign to collect, save and utilize these wild plants.

The wild ancestors of today's food crops were typically very tough and able to grow in conditions that are hostile for today's agriculture, according to Cary Fowler, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust.

"Some of them are extremely heat resistant or drought tolerant," he said. "If you look forward and consider the kind of projections being made in terms of climate change, these are exactly the kind of qualities agricultural crops will need in the near future."

Biodiversity: A life-saver

Finding the right wild relative makes crops more robust

New climates will affect agriculture within the next 50 years, Fowler said.

Plants will have to adapt to variable temperatures, droughts, floods or different pests and diseases. He pointed to rice as an example of where wild crop varieties could benefit modern crops.

At a critical stage in the flowering process for rice, even a one-degree rise in temperature could cut yields by 10 percent.

Most high-yield varieties of rice flower during the heat of the day and a few degrees temperature change could cut yields by up to 40 percent, Fowler said.

But some wild rice relatives flower at night and if that characteristic could be incorporated into farmed rice it could save millions of tons of rice "and thousands of lives," said Fowler.

The wild relatives of today's food crops make up only a tiny fraction of the seeds currently held in the world's gene banks.

Although plant breeders have incorporated many traits from the wild versions of crops in the past, the resulting plants have never been comprehensively collected or conserved, according to the Global Crop Diversity Trust.

Many are in danger because of climate change or rapid habitat loss. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, estimated that a fifth of the world's plants are threatened with extinction.

"Diversity equals resilience in the biological world, which is why this project is vital to the survival of agriculture," said Paul Smith, Director of Kew's Millennium Seed Bank.

Wild plants: A good investment

Maize is another crop that could suffer under climate change

Wild crop forms annually contribute more than $100 billion to commercial agriculture, according to Fowler's estimates.

One example cited by the Global Crop Diversity Trust of how a "wild relative" can save a modern crop goes back to the 1970s, when rice harvests across Asia were hit by an outbreak of grassy stunt virus.

Scientists screened more than 10,000 samples of wild and locally cultivated rice plants for resistance to the disease and found it in a wild relative, oryza nivara, growing in India. The gene has been incorporated into most new varieties since that discovery.

Norwegian Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim said the project represented "one of the most concrete steps taken to date to ensure that agriculture and humanity, adapts to climate change. At a more fundamental level, the project also demonstrates the importance of biodiversity and genetic resources for human survival."

Solheim added that the Scandinavian country, which provided the Trust's initial funding, is committed to conserving the world's plant biodiversity and built the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen in 2008, to store seed samples safely for posterity.

A race against time

It can take 10 years until new seeds are available

The international campaign will involve research centers, agricultural institutes, botanical gardens and local people around the globe, who will search out the plants and collect them.

The project is focusing on 23 crops considered to be the most important food crops, including rice, wheat, maize, potatoes, beans and peas. The time scale is 10 years, as the wild plants collected cannot be used directly in modern agriculture and because it takes seven to 10 years to breed a new crop variety.

"You have to cross the plant with a domesticated form to see what characteristics it actually has: Drought resistance, heat resistance during flowering good pest or disease resistance," explained Fowler. "You can't plant the wild plants, farmers want domesticated, higher yield varieties and so somehow traits from these wild plants have to be used in the process of making new, more modern varieties."

The results will be entered into a database and made available to plant-breeders and any other interested parties around the globe.

Ultimately, the seeds will be used to produce crop varieties that can cope with climate change.

The project is a race against time. A rapidly rising population and increased demand for meat means global agriculture production will have to double in the next 50 years, said Fowler, adding that if climate change continues in line with the most conservative estimates it would be difficult to keep up current agriculture output.

He described climate change as the biggest challenge agriculture has faced in the last 12,000 years. And the partners in the campaign believe the natural diversity in older varieties, the "wild relatives," will be the most important tool in addressing the challenge of future food security.

Author: Irene Quaile, Sean Sinico
Editor: Nathan Witkop

Source: http://www.dw.de/wild-relatives-can-save-our-food-supply-says-crop-diversity-group/a-14731495

WATCH : Free Training in Organic Farming in India by Deepak Suchde

SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vF4ZPjaBoY

WATCH Folk Rice Dr Debal Deb

Anupam Paul

Uploaded on 30 Nov 2010

India had a rich treasure of 82000 indigenous rice varieties and in Bengal we had more than 5500 varieties.These region specific varieties may be termed folk varieties.It has many typical and varied characters ranging from short duration to long duration,fine to bold,one grain to two/three grains per rice,purple rice Khara,high yielder (5-6 ton an ha) to low yielder,scented to non scented,It can be grown in marginal land like deep water to dry scanty rainfall area etc.After the Green Revolution these are fast dwindling from farmers' filed.Only a handful of folk rice are extant in farmers field.Ecologist Dr Debal Deb first initiated folk rice conservation work way back in 1997-98 in Basudha of Bankura District of West Bengal.He has now 690 folk varieties and it is the largest non governmental seed bank in eastern India.He characterized 416 folk varieties( Seeds of Tradition Seeds Of Future,2005,Navdanya,New Delhi) Inspired by his work Mr Anupam Paul of Agricultural Training Centre Fulia(Phulia),Nadia,West Bengal has initiated almost same work in 2001.He has now 205 folk rice varieties.Some farmers also realized the importance of conservation and they have started.Mr Avra Chakraborty of Burdwan has also initiated conserving our rich bio resources. There are more than 30 ha of folk rice in Ausgram Block of Burdwan and Mr Sourin Chaterjee and others have taken keen interest in this matter.farmers have found an effective alternative to input intensive modern rice varieties(HYV).Keralasundari give 4-5 ton a ha which is higher or same as popular modern variety Mtu 7029.Conservation of bio diversity helps in maintaining future food security.

SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7WiKL953sY

‘Organic farming is the only hope'

Special Correspondent | Thursday, Jul 15, 2010 | The Hindu

SHIMOGA: State Bharatiya Janata Party Raitha Morcha vice-president Shambhulinga Hegde regretted that children of farmers who should have derived pride and pleasure in being engaged in cultivation had chosen to be industrial workers.

He was inaugurating a meeting of the district BJP Raitha Morcha here on Wednesday.

He remembered the good times when farmers were self-sufficient and arranged the sowing of seeds and organic manure themselves. But with the passage of time, the situation changed and farmers started depending on the government as well as companies.

Mr. Hegde pointed out that situation might turn serious if the supply of seeds and fertilizer was not made on time. “Organic cultivation appeared to be the only solution to this predicament,” he said and asked farmers to derive maximum benefit from the schemes being formulated by the government to popularise organic farming.

District president of BJP Raitha Morcha Bhukanth, who presided over the function, said that it was the complete dependence of farmers on chemical fertilizer that had led to the present crisis. He said that farmers could come out of it if they switched over to organic farming.

District Raitha Morcha general secretary Nagaraj, district BJP general secretary S. Dattatri, members of the Morcha Ashok Nayak, Gangadhar and Suresh were present.

NEWS: Back to Roots

Jaskiran Kapoor : Wed May 12 2010, 05:12 hrs

Celebrities are increasingly taking up farming activities

For the last one year, Jackie Shroff has been relishing the fresh air every time he steps into his farm. "It is a small patch of green just a few kilometres from the choked confines of Mumbai," says Shroff. "If you live in a city, you will appreciate the peace, quiet and freshness," says the actor who often drives off to his haven to recuperate in the natural surroundings. Organic farming is still a dream, but Shroff loves to cook whatever grows in his little nursery. "I would love to procure organic seeds too but there is so much pollution, I feel as if nothing can ever be pure," says the actor.

Like Shroff, other celebrities too are looking outwards for a break from city life. Vindoo Dara Singh, for example, owns family land in Karjat near Mumbai and in Punjab, while the Deols flaunt their lush green property in Sahnewal, Punjab. Ever wondered where Rakhee Gulzar is these days? According to daughter Meghna Gulzar, who also plans to make a biopic on her mother, Rakhee's been toiling hard at her farmhouse in Panvel near Mumbai. Anupam Kher too owns land in Karjat and plans to make an orphanage there. Nana Patekar is another nature lover. Whenever the actor has time, he rushes to his farm in Khadakvasla near Pune. "I love being close to nature. I am a farmer at heart," he had said recently during a shooting schedule in Chandigarh. A foodie like Shroff, Patekar makes sure he grows his own veggies, cooks them and even rears poultry and livestock.

Ajay Devgn is an actor who has made a success of his farm ventures. His 28-acre farm in Karjat is devoted to organic farming, including mangoes. The papayas, bananas and berries from his farm are also sold at the local Vashi market.

Emraan Hashmi is another actor who plans to buy land to pursue organic farming. "During the shooting of Once Upon a Time in Mumbai, we came across Devgn's farm in Karjat. I sensed his passion for his land and produce, especially the way he involves his entire family and makes everyone plant saplings on their birthdays," says Hashmi. "Given the alarming levels of pollution and adulteration, it is great to own a farm and ensure safe food," he adds. Here's to greener pastures.

SOURCE : http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/back-to-roots/617762/0

NEWS : GM cotton’s resistance under strain

| Monday , March 8 , 2010 |

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

New Delhi, March 7: Pink bollworms in India have turned resistant to a set of genetically modified cotton plants, the crop biotechnology company Mahyco-Monsanto has announced, describing it as the world’s first emergence of insect resistance to GM cotton.   The company said its scientists had detected unusual survival of pink bollworms in first-generation single-protein GM cotton plants during field monitoring of the 2009 cotton crop in four districts of Gujarat.   Tests have confirmed resistance to the Cry1Ac protein — the bacterial protein in the GM cotton which is expected to kill the bollworms — in Amreli, Bhavnagar, Junagarh, and Rajkot, the company said in a statement.   If the findings are confirmed, they would mark the first insect resistance to GM cotton in the world. India introduced GM cotton eight years ago, but it is grown in 11 other countries, none of which have reported resistance so far despite longer periods of cultivation in some of them. Even the US which has cultivated GM cotton for more than 13 years has not reported resistance yet.   But two senior government entomologists have questioned the methodology and the conclusions drawn by Mahyco-Monsanto. “The unusual survival of bollworms in the cotton by itself need not be surprising. This is not the standard method of monitoring resistance,” said Keshav Kranthi, a crop protection specialist and acting director of the Central Institute of Cotton Research, Nagpur. Kranthi said India is the only country in the world where GM cotton is hybrid and under Mendelian rules of gene segregation the Cry1Ac gene will be absent in 25 per cent of the seeds that form on the first generation plants.   “If the levels of insect infestation is low, farmers won’t notice, but at high infestation levels, survival of the insects will become apparent,” Kranthi said. “So the survival is not something dramatic.”   Mahyco-Monsanto said while the gene segregation argument is “scientifically correct”, bollworm larvae have been controlled “very well” prior to this incidence by the Cry1Ac cotton.   “We have not come across significant damage due to pink bollworm earlier,” the company said. Laboratory tests on the surviving larvae show “they could survive concentrations that will kill susceptible larvae”.   Some scientists are also questioning the conclusion of resistance after tests on larvae surviving GM cotton fields. In a bollworm population, one entomologist said, there is likely to be a small proportion with the capacity to survive the Cry1Ac protein toxin.   “Laboratory tests on them would obviously show them as resistant. But standard resistance monitoring should involve larvae picked up from conventional cotton fields,” Kranthi said. The second entomologist who requested anonymity said he would agree with Kranthi.   But the company said its methodology is based on good science. “We based our conclusions on the judgement of recognised resistance experts who employed accepted scientific methods,” it said. “Resistance is natural and expected,” the company said.   The company said it has reported its findings to a government panel responsible for approving GM products. It has also said that no insect resistance has been observed in its second generation GM cotton containing two proteins — Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab.   The crops with additional Cry2Ab protein would be more effective than plants with Cry1Ac alone. “The stacking of genes is a standard process called gene pyramiding to deal with possibility of resistance,” said a senior crop scientist.   Mahyco-Monsanto said that single protein Cry1Ac cotton continues to control bollworms pests other than pink bollworm in the four districts of Gujarat. And no insect resistance in any of India’s cotton growing states has been observed with the second generation GM cotton.   “The findings are an important reminder to Indian farmers,” the company said. When cultivating GM cotton, farmers are expected to plant non-GM cotton as refuge around the GM cotton to delay the risk resistance, regularly scout fields for insect presence, and use insecticide sprays only when needed.   But Kranthi said more independent tests would be required to confirm that pink bollworms have indeed turned resistant to the single protein GM cotton. “Our own studies so far do not indicate resistance,” he said.   SOURCE : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100308/jsp/nation/story_12190630.jsp

Bt cotton ineffective against pest in parts of Gujarat, admits Monsanto

NEWS » NATIONAL

NEW DELHI, March 6, 2010

Updated: March 6, 2010 02:41 IST  

For the first time anywhere in the world, biotech agriculture giant Monsanto has admitted that insects have developed resistance to its Bt cotton crop. Field monitoring in parts of Gujarat has discovered that the Bt crop is no longer effective against the pink bollworm pest there.

The company is advocating that Indian farmers switch to its second-generation product to delay resistance further. Monsanto's critics say that this just proves the ineffectiveness of the Bt technology, which was recently sought to be introduced in India in Bt brinjal as well.

In November 2009, Monsanto's scientists detected unusual survival of the pink bollworm pest while monitoring the Bt cotton crop in Gujarat. In January and February, samples taken from the field were tested in Monsanto's laboratories. It has been confirmed that pink bollworm is now resistant to the pest-killing protein of Bt cotton in four districts — Amreli, Bhavnagar, Junagarh and Rajkot.

Until now, Monsanto has held that “there have been no confirmed cases of poor field performance of Bt cotton or Bt corn attributable to insect resistance.” Although there have been cases of insects resisting the technology in the laboratory, Monsanto held that “field resistance is the criterion of relevance to agricultural producers.”

Now that the company itself has admitted that its product has been proved ineffective against some insects on the fields of Gujarat, its advice to farmers is to start using its second generation product instead. “Farmers have another choice. We have a two-gene product called Bollgard II which has greater ability to delay resistance,” says Monsanto India's director of scientific affairs Rashmi Nair. She also recommends that farmers conduct better monitoring and plant “refuges,” or areas of non-Bt crop which would attract insects.

Agricultural scientists and activists say Monsanto's advice is “ridiculous”. The Bollgard II product has no additional toxin to combat pink bollworm, says G.V. Ramanjaneyulu of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture. It is simply that as a newer product, Bollgard II will take longer for the pest to develop resistance. Anyway, the Bt toxin is only active for 90 days, while pink bollworm is a late season pest, he adds.

“All the hype about the effectiveness of Bt against pests is bogus …This proves that you can't stay ahead of the pest with … this shortsighted approach,” says Kavitha Kuruganti of the Kheti Virasat Mission. Indian farmers with small holdings cannot be expected to give up large parts of their land for non- productive “refuges,” added Dr. Ramanjaneyulu.

Monsanto's Dr. Nair says the Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR) was informed about the resistance “about eight to ten days ago.” The CICR, which has been collaborating in the field monitoring of Bt cotton since 2003, has reported this to the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), she said. However, the Ministry of Environment and Forests seems to have been unaware of the test results until Monsanto issued a statement on Friday.

Over the last month, the GEAC and the Ministry have been at the centre of a storm regarding the government's moratorium on Bt brinjal's commercial release. Critics are now pointing to the ineffectiveness of Bt cotton in Gujarat to strengthen their case against Bt brinjal as well.

SOURCE: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article183353.ece

Bt cotton has failed admits Monsanto

Dinesh C. Sharma   |   Mail Today  |   New Delhi, March 6, 2010 | UPDATED 10:39 IST

The ongoing debate on biotechnology crops in India took a new turn on Friday when American seed firm Monsanto disclosed that cotton pest--pink bollworm--has developed resistance to its much-touted Bt cotton variety in Gujarat.

The company has reported to the regulator, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), that pink bollworm has developed resistance to its genetically modified (GM) cotton variety, Bollgard I, in Amreli, Bhavnagar, Junagarh and Rajkot districts in Gujarat.

This was detected by the company during field monitoring in the 2009 cotton season.

The Bt cotton variety in question was developed using a gene--Cry1AC--derived from soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. It was supposed to be resistant to pest attacks. But, of late, the pest has developed resistance to the gene.

The same gene has been used in Bt brinjal to make it resistant to pests. Bollgard cotton was cited as a great success of GM technology by Union science minister Prithviraj Chavan in his July 2009 letter to former health minister A. Ramadoss.

"Resistance is natural and expected," Monsanto said in a statement. The company blamed pink bollworm resistance to Cry1Ac protein in Gujarat to "early use of unapproved Bt cotton seeds" by farmers and "limited refuge planting". Farmers are supposed to maintain a distance between Bt cotton farms and other farms as a "refuge". It also advised farmers to take up "need-based application of insecticide sprays" and "properly manage crop residue and unopened bolls after harvest". A second generation variety, Bollgard II, introduced by Monsanto in 2006, contains two proteins, Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab.

The company says no resistance has been observed in the variety anywhere in the country, including Gujarat.

The revelation has not surprised environment action groups. "This is the pattern Monsanto has been following everywhere. Once Bollgard 1 fails, they start pushing Bollgard 2 and tell farmers to apply more pesticides. This is a vicious circle that Indian cotton farmers have got into," Devinder Sharma of Forum for Biotechnology and Food Safety said.

"There is a lesson here for Bt brinjal because the arguments in favour of the crop are same as those given for Bollgard cotton," Kavita Kuruganti of Kheti Virasat said.

In a report submitted to environment minister Jairam Ramesh, K.R. Kranthi of the Central Institute for Cotton Research had cautioned about the likely failure of Bt cotton. "Farmers are not following the recommended 'refugia'. With about 90 per cent area under Bt cotton, bollworms can develop resistance soon. The concern needs to be addressed on priority before it is too late," the report says.

Not only has Bt cotton been rendered ineffective, it has also led to detection of some new pests never before reported from India. It is toxic only to bollworm and does not control any other pests of cotton. "New sucking pests have emerged as major pests causing significant economic losses", the report says.

At the same time, productivity of cotton has fallen from 560 kg lint per hectare in 2007 to 512 kg lint per hectare in 2009.

And pesticide expenditure has gone up from from Rs.597 crore in 2002 to Rs.791 crore in 2009.

SOURCE: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Bt+cotton+has+failed+admits+Monsanto/1/86939.html

Setback for Bt cotton; main pest develops resistance

BS Reporter  |  New Delhi  

March 6, 2010 Last Updated at 00:17 IST

In a setback for genetically engineered cotton, Monsanto, innovator of the strain, confirmed what sceptics had said might well happen, that the pests it was supposed to resist better than natural cotton would also innovate.

The company confirmed today that the pink bollworm, the damaging pest against which the genetically modified variety had been successful, had developed resistance to the protein in question, in parts of Gujarat. This has been reported to the government’s Genetic Engineering Approval Committee.

In a statement issued today, Monsanto said: “Testing was conducted to assess for resistance to Cry1Ac, the Bt protein in Bollgard cotton, and pink bollworm resistance to Cry1Acwas confirmed in four districts in Gujarat — Amreli, Bhavnagar, Junagarh and Rajkot. Gujarat is one of nine states where cotton is grown. To date, no insect resistance to Cry1Ac has been confirmed outside the four districts in Gujarat.”

Many who opposed the commercialisation of Bt brinjal in India had said insects could develop resistance to it after some years. They’d made the same predictions earlier on Bt cotton.

Monsanto today said, during field monitoring of the 2009 cotton crop in Gujarat, its scientists and those of Mahyco (its sister company) detected unusual survival of the pink bollworm to first-generation, single-protein Bollgard cotton.

It said current monitoring efforts by an Indian-expert network to manage insect resistance will be expanded. “The network will continue to conduct extensive insect monitoring, encourage appropriate stewardship practices such as proper refuge planting through an intensified farmer education campaign, and explore new methods of refuge seed delivery,” it said.

Adding, “resistance is natural and expected, so measures to delay resistance are important.” Among the factors that may have contributed to pink bollworm resistance to the Cry1Ac protein in Gujarat are “limited refuge planting and early use of unapproved Bt cotton seed, planted prior to GEAC approval of Cry1Ac cotton, which may have had lower protein expression levels.”

It said there was need for continuous research and innovation to develop new value-added technologies to stay ahead of insect resistance. “To support such innovation, government policies should encourage investment in research and development, which will result in Indian farmers having a wider choice of better and advanced technologies,” it added.

SOURCE: http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/setback-for-bt-cotton-main-pest-develops-resistance-110030600019_1.html