Agricultural scientists from the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) will for the first time carry out an in-depth study on the effects of genetically modified (GM) crops in Gujarat — the only state that has been using Bt cotton since seven years.
Representatives of CSA said they planned the study after they met a number of Bt cotton farmers who said they would abandon not only Bt cotton but also cotton farming entirely. The farmers said they were unable to tackle the increasing use of pesticides that the crop required coupled with its declining yield.
Executive Director, CSA, G V Ramanjaneyulu said the study will start in December this year and Secunderabad-based Centre for Sustainable
Agriculture (CSA) will lead the research team comprising institutions like Gujarat Vidyapeeth, Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), Gujarat Institute of Developmental Research (GIDR) and the Centre for Environment Education (CEE).
The decision regarding the study was taken in Ahmedabad on Saturday at a CSA conference on GM crops.
Ramanjaneyulu and Kavitha Kuruganti (of CSA) were in Vadodara on Sunday for a discussion about GM crops with farmers and consumers.
According to Ramanjaneyulu, the study aims at finding out the effects of GM crops.
“Nobody knows the exact effects of GM crops and Gujarat is an ideal state for the study because BT cotton was introduced here first seven years ago,” said Ramanjaneyulu.
He also added that during their recent visit to Gujarat, they found that farmers, of late, had been facing problems with BT cotton.
Kuruganti said so far no study has been done in Gujarat about several aspects of BT cotton.
“There has been no research on the pests and diseases that afflict BT cotton or how cultivation of GM crops impact our health,” said Kuruganti.
She added that the profit margins on BT crops could drop this year onwards.
“There have been reports of more and more problems related to Bt crops. The trend is similar all over the country where farmers have used BT cotton. There is a boom initially, but it declines in a few years,” said Kuruganti.
Courtesy : Expressindia.com
CSA to study impact of GM crops in state
October 8, 2007, 10:17 amLatest political handle: Private detectives
October 8, 2007, 10:15 am
It could be his rival’s every day habits or his dirty little vice, or an issue that has the potential of becoming big in future — a politician in Gujarat needs to know it all. And how? He puts private detective agencies on the job. Not directly, but through corporate houses.
“The main motive why politicians come to us is to get insights on various issues that might impact their political future,” said a city-based private detective M M Khan.
“During Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, for instance, we were busy figuring out the stances of various political parties,” he said, adding his firm was engaged in the case by a corporate body.
“I have never had any politician directly asking me to carry out an investigation. It has always been one or the other corporate house that approaches me,” he added.
BJP dissident MLA Dhiru Gajera, while admitting that political parties rampantly take up such practices, also said that state Chief Minister Narendra Modi, too, uses such private agencies in a big way. “I know we are constantly being watched, he said, adding that it was not only the dissidents but also party members who were under vigil.
"Like the CD surfacing against Sanjay Joshi, there may exist such embarrassing documents for other BJP leaders as well, which can be used to blackmail them," he added.
According to Khan, political investigations are usually of three kinds: preparing individual profile, intra-party surveillance, and issue identification.
“Often the candidate himself asks us to carry out an investigation about him and his background, which we call Candidate Research Investigation,” he said, adding that such investigations are usually meant to identify problematic areas in the prospective candidate’s profile and work out their solutions.
“Secondly, we have requests to keep a tab over a specific party member made by the same party, where the person concerned is under suspicion.”
He said people from other parties, too, are being spied on. “Requests for such investigations increase once the assets are disclosed by the candidates,” he said, adding that impersonation is one of the modes used by the agents to carry out such investigations.
“Thirdly, we are also asked to work in certain area and find out what could be the issues, which may be raked up during elections,” said Khan.
NCP Gujarat General Secretary Ashok Goswami, too, admitted that political parties do seek the assistance of such agencies. “Of course this happens,” he said, adding that in Gujarat such investigations are generally taken up to dig out embarrassing information about political rivals so that they can be used at an opportune moment. “And this is a practice that cuts across all party lines,” he added.
A Congress insider said while the practice is common with all the parties, his party alone has about 150 ‘boys’ in Gujarat working exclusively on such matters.
Courtesy : Expressindia.com
“The main motive why politicians come to us is to get insights on various issues that might impact their political future,” said a city-based private detective M M Khan.
“During Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, for instance, we were busy figuring out the stances of various political parties,” he said, adding his firm was engaged in the case by a corporate body.
“I have never had any politician directly asking me to carry out an investigation. It has always been one or the other corporate house that approaches me,” he added.
BJP dissident MLA Dhiru Gajera, while admitting that political parties rampantly take up such practices, also said that state Chief Minister Narendra Modi, too, uses such private agencies in a big way. “I know we are constantly being watched, he said, adding that it was not only the dissidents but also party members who were under vigil.
"Like the CD surfacing against Sanjay Joshi, there may exist such embarrassing documents for other BJP leaders as well, which can be used to blackmail them," he added.
According to Khan, political investigations are usually of three kinds: preparing individual profile, intra-party surveillance, and issue identification.
“Often the candidate himself asks us to carry out an investigation about him and his background, which we call Candidate Research Investigation,” he said, adding that such investigations are usually meant to identify problematic areas in the prospective candidate’s profile and work out their solutions.
“Secondly, we have requests to keep a tab over a specific party member made by the same party, where the person concerned is under suspicion.”
He said people from other parties, too, are being spied on. “Requests for such investigations increase once the assets are disclosed by the candidates,” he said, adding that impersonation is one of the modes used by the agents to carry out such investigations.
“Thirdly, we are also asked to work in certain area and find out what could be the issues, which may be raked up during elections,” said Khan.
NCP Gujarat General Secretary Ashok Goswami, too, admitted that political parties do seek the assistance of such agencies. “Of course this happens,” he said, adding that in Gujarat such investigations are generally taken up to dig out embarrassing information about political rivals so that they can be used at an opportune moment. “And this is a practice that cuts across all party lines,” he added.
A Congress insider said while the practice is common with all the parties, his party alone has about 150 ‘boys’ in Gujarat working exclusively on such matters.
Courtesy : Expressindia.com
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