11/February/22

 

When Bt cotton was introduced to the market in India, it was not only hailed as a silver bullet in the fight against the key pest affecting cotton production, but promoted by some as a pro-poor technology that would bring substantial benefits to smallholders. But the authors of a new scientific paper present evidence to suggest that Bt cotton can be better understood as a neoliberal technology that has led to a systematic dispossession of the very people it is claimed to help – resource-poor farming households. GMWatch

 

 

In 1981, the Rodale Institute began a 30-year farm-scale trial in Pennsylvania that compares conventional farming with organic farming. The trial, the longest-running side-by-side comparison of organic and conventional grain cropping systems in North America, has continued and has now been running for nearly 40 years. Some years after the start of the trial, they added some GM crops to the "conventional" cropping system. The results show that organic systems:
* Are competitive in yields with conventional systems after a 5-year transition period.
* Produce up to 40% higher yields in times of drought.
* Earn 3-6 times more profits for farmers.
* Leach no toxic chemicals into waterways.
* Use 45% less energy.
* Release 40% fewer carbon emissions.
Rodale Institute

 

 

Gene drives aim to modify or suppress wild populations of animals or plants by quickly genetically modified traits throughout a population. In a new analysis using fruit flies as a model, scientists identified multiple cascading effects of gene drives, including the potential spread of the gene drive in geographic range or potential hybridization with non-target species. The authors propose the outline of a comprehensive approach to understand the susceptibility of an ecosystem to unintended and irreversible harm and recommend that the precautionary principle should be applied. Third World Network Biosafety Information Centre