Living Farms site syndication http://www.living-farms.org/site Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:14:19 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.living-farms.org/site/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.living-farms.org/site Living Farms site syndication http://www.living-farms.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=233&Itemid=31 Dt: 09.02.10 Bhubaneswar: Sri Jairam Ramesh at the Press Conference in Delhi declared a moratorium upon a particular variety of Bt Brinjal. He said he was balancing science and society.The farmers and scientists who oppose Bt Brinjal are unhappy that instead of totally rejecting GM food and crops, there has been only a moratorium on Bt Brinjal. Within the time other GM varieties could be considered for approval as he has emphasized that the moratorium is only on one variety of Bt Brinjal and that too on commercial release and not on research. Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:11:33 +0100 http://www.living-farms.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=232&Itemid=44 In Orissa 80% of the total population depends on agriculture. 83~86% farmers are smal and marginal and 48% farmer house holds in indebted. Today, Orissa stands at a crossroads.It can either intensify its agriculture further by continuing to adopt a model of more external inputs including GM seeds which would tighten the control of external agents on food & farming systems and disempower the people.We need farming system which would sustain and improve agriculture, improve food sovereignty.We want to move towards establishing farming systems that are appropriate for and tolerant towards a specific area. In this section you can find more in-dept of articles on it.VISIT THIS SECTION (index.php/articles/agriculture-in-orissa) Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:19:42 +0100 http://www.living-farms.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=229&Itemid=31 Dt: 03.12.09Bhubaneswar: The Bhopal Gas tragedy is one of the biggest and the most dreadful industrial disasters. Shortly before midnight on 2nd December 1984 thousands of tonnes of deadly chemicals leaked from Union Carbide’s pesticide plant in Bhopal , Madhya Pradesh. The disaster killed between 8,000 and 10,000 people within the first three days, according to the data by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a further 15,000 over the next 25 years and hundreds of thousands more still suffer from the effects of exposure to the fumes and contamination of land and water and still continue to seek medical care, compensation and justice even after 25 long years. Criminal negligence by the Union Carbide, the US multinational led to this disaster. The criminal Union Carbide and the callous government have colluded to deny the survivors the basic justice. Sat, 12 Dec 2009 05:38:47 +0100 http://www.living-farms.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=227&Itemid=55 Marker Assisted Selection Genetic Modification, particularly transgenes, is a very unpredictable and dangerous process. There is strong opposition because ethical and health  issues are involved. Scientists themselves admit it is not very accurate. That is why a new system is being advocated, called Marker Assisted Selection (MAS). This technique does not involve insertion of genetic material but it aims to identify the gene responsible for a particular trait. Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:03:18 +0100 http://www.living-farms.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=226&Itemid=31 Dt: 07.10.09Endosulfan, a deadly pesticide encouraged by IndiaBhubaneswar, October 07: Endosulfan is a pesticide belonging to the organochlorine group of pesticides, under the Cyclodiene subgroup. It has been introduced in the 1950’s and in India has become a leading chemical used against pests in agriculture. It is used as an insecticide and also to kill fishes in lakes and rivers. It is not recommended for household use as it is known as a potent poison that can cause harm upon contact, eating food contaminated by it, swallowing, and even inhaling the odour. Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:18:19 +0100 http://www.living-farms.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=222&Itemid= Why Bush is wrong to blame Indians for the rise in food pricesVandana Shiva * http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=552United States President George W. Bush has a new analysis of the global rise in food prices. At an interactive session in the US state of Missouri on the economy, Bush argued that prosperity in countries like India had triggered increased demand for better nutrition. “There are 350 million people in India who are classified as middle-class. That’s bigger than America. Their middle class is larger than our entire population. And when you start getting wealthy, you start demanding better nutrition and better food so demand is high and that causes the price to go up.” Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:18:51 +0100 http://www.living-farms.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=221&Itemid= GRAINhttp://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=551Hybrid rice has not been a success in the Philippines. The few studies of it have painted a bleak picture. Official statistics from 2003 for one town in Isabela Province in the north-west of the country show that for every hectare of hybrid rice that yielded above the national average for conventional inbred varieties, currently 4.2 million tonnes, seven hectares of the same variety yielded well below it. More recently, in 2007, the World Bank concluded that the Philippines’ hybrid rice programmes had not produced “much net social benefit”, noting a farmer drop-out rate of 50–99 per cent. The Bank said that the conventional varieties were more “socially profitable” than the hybrids. Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:06:40 +0100 http://www.living-farms.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=220&Itemid= Kanchi Kohli*http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=609The story of mining in Niyamgiri is one of people’s truth, bureacratic lies and judicial failure. It is deeply enmeshed in India’s growth agenda and is symbolic of a world view which puts industrial expansion first, even if it will ravage lives, cultures, livelihoods and natural spaces. Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:31:55 +0100 http://www.living-farms.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=219&Itemid=29 In the guise of “feeding the poor and hungry” a model of industrial agriculture was proposed by the Western world. In the year 1960 the Indian government succumbed to pressure and adopted it. What it meant essentially was to promote two cereals, rice and wheat, at the expense of other food crops like millets, cereals and pulses. The system of mono cropping emerged and to increase yield land devoted to other agricultural produce was shifted to the above two types of grains. Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:24:31 +0100 http://www.living-farms.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=218&Itemid= http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/india-proposed-vedanta-mine-threatens-livelihoods-and-cultural-identity-9 July 2009The Indian government should immediately withdraw the clearance granted to a massive mining project that threatens the lives and livelihoods of a protected indigenous community living there, Amnesty International said today. Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:21:56 +0100