Brasília and São Paulo Brazil - Embrapa, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Cooperation, and BASF’s jointly developed herbicide-tolerant soybeans were green-lighted on December 10 by CTNBio. CTNBio, the Brazilian Biosafety Technical Commission...

Seed development, use of less chemicals and being more specific in treating plant diseases with no adverse side effects are good for the environment. THE world is now grappling with ways to adapt to and mitigate climate change, and to conserve biodiversity—two of the urgent concerns confronting the world today.

China has given the green lights to the controversial genetically modified rice after they are put through a process of production trails and made suitable for wider commercial use. Beijing's argument is that GM rice is necessary to feed its growing population in the face of shrinking farmland. Huang Dafang, a member of the Bio...

The best advertisement for Bt brinjal is said to be the agronomic success of Bt cotton, the only genetically modified crop to have so far been commercially cultivated in India. For all the alleged scare-mongering , government figures suggest that farmers have displayed faith in Bt cotton ever since it was released in 2002. About 90 per cent of cotton farming in the country has swit...

Many favorite breakfast cereals, candies, beers, and other foods and beverages owe much of their smooth, delicious flavor to malt. Malting barleys—the source of that malt—are the focus of studies at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) malting barley laboratory in Madison, Wis., part of t...

The Grains Research and Development Corporation has released the results of 150 canola trial results from across the country with the major finding that genetically modified canola did not significantly outyield Clearfield. Proponents of GM canola said this was always to be expected, and that GM canola was not being grown for its yield advanta...

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and Montana Microbial Products (MMP) of Butte, Mont., have developed a barley protein concentrate that could be fed to trout and other commercially produced fish. Physiologist Rick Barrows at the ARS Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research Unit in Aberdee...

Bill Niebur, vice president – DuPont Crop Genetics Research and Development, spoke yesterday at the grower conference, “Maize and Water Synergy,” in Bordeaux, France. He told participants that an integrated approach to plant breeding, product positioning and agronomic management is key to developing drought-tolerant crops, ...

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have developed an efficient and cost-effective method to speed up the breeding of scab-resistant barley cultivars, thus improving crop quality for small-grain breeders in the Northern Plains. Shiaoman Chao, a molecular geneticist at the ARS Cereal Crops Rese...

The approval to genetically modified (Bt) brinjal seems to have been been given without adequately assessing long-term health risks, although with a stipulation that surveillance and long-term follow up should be conducted — two conditions that experts are aware have not been fulfilled even in the case of some critical drugs.

Prairie flax growers on a conference call Monday to discuss the state of the flaxseed industry expressed concern over plans offered to deal with trace amounts of genetically-modified (GM) material found in flaxseed samples across the country. The requirement that producers grow only certified seed in 2010 was a major topic of the discussion.

LAKEPORT -- The Lake County Board of Supervisors unanimously accepted the recommendation Tuesday to regulate commercial genetically engineered crops through a registration process. County staff with board member assistance will create an ordinance based on the amended recommendations made by the Genetically Engineered Crops Advisory Committee,...

Local anti-GM food campaigners have voiced their outrage over Agriculture and Food Minister Terry Redman’s decision last Monday on GM canola. The State Government announced genetically modified canola could from this year onwards be grown in Western Australia. Minister Redman approved an exemption order under the Genetical...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- In 2009, soybeans represented an almost $30 billion industry in the U.S. alone, making soybeans the second-most profitable crop next to corn. Worldwide, soybeans have been used in human foods and livestock feed for centuries and have been a key component in industrial products, such as ...

A new therapeutic made from tobacco plants has been shown to arrest West Nile virus infection, according to a new study by Arizona State University scientist Qiang Chen and his colleagues. Chen, a researcher at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute and professor in the College of Technology and Innovation, on the Polytechnic campus, i...

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh is evasive on Bt Brinjal and has clearly said on Tuesday (February 2) that no decision has been taken on BT Brinjal. The consultation process is still on and only after the meeting on February 6th in Bangalore he will take a decision and announce it on February 7th. Earlier, Minister of State f...