29/October/21

 

The US National Science Foundation has given University of California Riverside scientists $500,000 of taxpayer money to try to turn edible plants like lettuce or spinach into mRNA vaccine factories. But it’s highly unlikely that the technology will work as intended – and it poses serious contamination risks. While UC Riverside does not directly claim that the researchers are trying to develop COVID-19 vaccines in the target plants, it is seemingly trying to exploit public fear of the pandemic to gain acceptance for these GM pharmaceutical crops. GMWatch

 

 

In Andhra Pradesh, India, natural farming practices are now being practised on 8,000,000 hectares. And in Warangal, Telangana, an entire village has not only gone organic but also formed a cooperative. Since then six more such organic villages have sprung up. With no chemical pesticides and reduced fertiliser application, the usual illness cases have dropped by 86% and health expenses have been reduced by an average of 50% per household. Considering increased medical expenses are a primary reason behind increasing farm suicides, this approach appears to be the way forward to pull farmers out of the vicious debt trap. And with an 68% reduction in cost of cultivation and with 88% of farmers showing statistically significant increase in crop yields, farm income has increased from 8 to 111 per cent, depending upon the kind of cultivation undertaken. Bizzbuzz

 

 

Kenya and several African countries will soon launch a GM cassava variety that is claimed to be resistant to brown streak disease. [GMW: let's see how long the resistance lasts in the field. Past attempts at developing GM virus-resistant cassava have failed miserably.] China.org.cn

 

 

The J.R. Simplot Company and Plant Services, a California-based plant reproduction company, have announced an agricultural collaboration to produce gene-edited strawberries. They said they will focus on trying to improve shelf life. Simplot

 

 

The discovery of illegal GM rice in rice from India imported into France has raised concerns about India's regulatory agencies. All India People's Science Network (AIPSN), in a letter to the chairman of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), has demanded that the relevant government departments must resolve to "strengthen regulatory effectiveness to protect Indian food and agricultural systems". NewsClick