> IAASTD news updates

> Tuesday 7 February: Podcasts reach Peruvian villages (BBC)
In Peru's remote Andean mountains, villages like Chanta Alta only have electricity for two hours a day. Despite this, a new pilot project is using podcasting to get important agricultural information to farmers.

> Tuesday 17 January: Pesticides Raise Child Risk of Leukaemia - Study (Reuters)
London - Exposure to pesticides in the womb or as a child can double the risk of developing acute leukaemia, French scientists said on Tuesday.

> Thursday 5 January: WTO again Delays Ruling in Row over EU GMO Policy (Reuters)
Geneva - A world trade ruling in a high-stakes row between the European Union and the United States and others over genetically modified crops has been delayed and is unlikely before February, trade diplomats said on Wednesday.

> Friday 14 November: Police Kick Brazilian Indians Off Disputed Land (Reuters)
Sao Paulo - Federal police moved to evict about 200 Indians from land in Brazil's Mato Grosso do Sul state on Thursday, carrying out a court order obtained by ranchers, police said.

> Tuesday 13 November: EU Hits Out at UN and USA Over Food Aid (Deutsche Welle)
A dispute between Washington and Brussels over food aid to poor countries intensified on Tuesday when the EU's trade chief accused the UN of backing American agricultural policies at the expense of the developing world.

> Monday 28 November: Farmer's drumstick beats drought (BBC)
For most people, the drumstick is simply a popular Indian vegetable. But for Balasaheb Marale, a farmer from Shaha village in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, growing the green-skinned, stick-like vegetable has become a mission.

> Monday 28 November: Swiss Adopt Five-Year GMO Farming Ban (Reuters)
Zurich - Switzerland voted in favour of a five-year ban on the farming of genetically modified plants and animals on Sunday, putting in place some of the toughest restrictions in Europe.

> Monday 21 November: GM pea causes allergic damage in mice (NewScientist.com)
A decade-long project to develop genetically modified peas with built-in pest-resistance has been abandoned after tests showed they caused allergic lung damage in mice.

> Monday 14 November: World trade talks set to fail Africa (Oxfam Press Release)
Africa looks set to be betrayed by rich nations at World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks in December in what would be a bitterly disappointing end to 2005 - the supposed “Year for Africa” - a new report published today by Oxfam reveals.

> Friday 11 November: Colombia to evict farm occupiers (BBC)
The Colombian authorities say they will continue to forcibly remove indigenous protesters from farms, after a teenager was killed during an eviction.

> In pictures: Colombia farm unrest

> Monday 17 October: Cambodia targets organic market (BBC)
Cambodia has one of the least diversified economies in the world. With the future of the garment sector uncertain, Cambodia is looking for other sources of income - and one of the areas under consideration is organic farming.

> Monday 10 October: Multinationals gain at expense of farmers in developed world (Financial Express)
The crisis in the farm sector is global in nature. Whether it is in developed or developing countries, the issue is of farmers’s net incomes which are generally below sustainable levels.

> Monday 10 October: Biodiversity under threat, says study (Financial Express)
The country is losing much of its diversity of crops and livestock and some are on the verge of extinction, said the final technical report of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan.

> Tuesday 13 September: New Rust Strain Threatens Africa Wheat – Researchers (Reuters)
ADDIS ABABA - A new strain of wheat steam rust is threatening African crops in one of the poorest regions of the world and could spread further, researchers warned on Monday.

> Monday 12 September: EU to Consider GMO Crop-Growing Laws after April (Reuters)
LONDON - Europe's farm chief will wait until at least next April to decide whether to draft rules to tell farmers how to separate traditional, organic and genetically modified (GMO) crops, she said on Sunday.

> Saturday 10 September: Pak groups call for transparency in WTO talks (Reuters)
NEW DELHI - The civil society organisations and farmers’ groups in Pakistan have called upon India and Brazil to quit the group of five interested parties (FIPs) and work for transparency in the farm negotiations at the WTO.

> Friday 9 September: Co-op credit must for 3-4% farm growth: PM (Financial Express)
NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has urged state governments to implement the Vaidyanathan panel report on revitalisation of short-term co-operative credit. He said that easy and adequate credit flow is necessary for the farm growth of 3-4% which would ultimately push the overall GDP to 7-8%.

> Wednesday 7 September: West draws flak for unfair farm trade practices (Financal Express)
NEW DELHI - The Human Development Report 2005 has censured the developed countries for unfair trade practices, particularly in the farm sector.

> Tuesday 6 September: Climate Change Raises Risk of Hunger - Scientists (Reuters)
DUBLIN - About 50 million more people, most of them in Africa, could be at risk of hunger by 2050 due to climate change and reduced crop yields, scientists predicted on Monday.

> Monday 29 August: Introduce heavy penalty for patenting traditional knowledge (Financial Express)
In the ensuing month, the issue of intellectual property rights (IPRs) is likely to occupy centrestage. The general assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) is meeting in Geneva to discuss whether to renew the mandate of the Inter-governmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC).

> Sunday 29 Agust: Steam rises on basmati patents (Financial Express)
NEW DELHI - Even before the government could resolve the issue of geographical indication (GI) on the country’s premium basmati rice at the global level, an interested individual has already filed an application before the Registrar of GI, Chennai.

> Monday 22 August: NGOs to press for democratic functioning of WTO (Financial Express)
Talks on breaking the stalemate in multilateral trade negotiations are slated to resume in Geneva next month. In preparation, the G-20 has scheduled a three-day meet in Islamabad, Pakistan, beginning September 8.

> Thursday 18 August: Scientists warn of GM superweed risk (The Guardian)
Scientists have identified 15 weed species that are resistant to a herbicide widely used on GM crops and are warning farmers they may become a serious problem unless a strategy for dealing with them is developed.

> Tuesday 16 August: Syngenta bid to monopolise rice patents (Financial Express)
NEW DELHI,The Swiss biotech giant, Syngenta has tightened its - monopoly control over rice by seeking global patents over thousands of gene sequences. A single grain of rice contains 37,544 genes, roughly one-fourth more than the genes in a human body. With the multinational all set to “own” rice, the world’s most important staple food crop, there may be serious implications for future research in this crop.

> Monday 15 August: EU farm subsidies help only rich farmers, firms (Financial Express)
The European Commission has been fighting shy whenever the issue of farm subsidies is discussed at the WTO. It has been defensive on the issue of subsidies and offensive on gaining market access in the Third World.

> Monday 15 August: Syngenta bid to monopolise rice patents (Financial Express)
NEW DELHI - The Swiss biotech giant, Syngenta has tightened its monopoly control over rice by seeking global patents over thousands of gene sequences.

> Tuesday 9 August: Gene-Modified Corn Gone from Mexico, Study Finds (Reuters)
WASHINGTON - The Mexican region where modern corn originated shows no traces of a genetically engineered contamination that caused an international uproar and created tension over US corn imports, researchers said on Monday.

> Monday 8 August: Peru Copper Protests Flare Up Again (Reuters)
LIMA - After a brief truce, some 4,000 poor Peruvians on Friday resumed protests against a British-run copper project, blocking roads and marching to demand the company leave the site in northern Peru. Opponents say the project, expected to raise output by a quarter in the world's No. 3 copper producing nation, will endanger coffee crops, water supplies and farmland.

> Wednesday 3 August: Organic farms 'best for wildlife' (BBC)
Organic farms are better for wildlife than those run conventionally, according to a study covering 180 farms from Cornwall to Cumbria. The organic farms were found to contain 85% more plant species, 33% more bats, 17% more spiders and 5% more birds.

> Monday 1 August: Bt cotton ineffective against bollworm: research (Financial Express)
Recent research findings on Bt cotton have placed the country’s regulatory authority, Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) in the dock. Based on a series of experiments, a team of scientists from Nagpur-based Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR), have proved that the Bt cotton becomes ineffective in its resistance to bollworm after 110 days.

> Friday 29 July: Pesticide Exposure Causes Illnesses in Schools (Reuters)
NEW YORK - Although reported illnesses due to pesticide exposures at schools in the US are relatively uncommon, the incidence of such exposures among schoolchildren has increased in recent years, investigators report.

> Friday 22 July: Industry eyes a kill in rising global sugar prices (Financial Express)
NEW DELHI - With global prices of sugar on the rise, the domestic industry sees an opportunity to export at least 2 million tonne in the coming season. The withdrawal of European export subsidies on sugar has resulted in a significant appreciation in global prices. The only concern that now remains to be addressed for adequate market access is the high tariff barriers in developed countries and heavy subsidies and support in the US.

> Thursday 21 July: The miracle is it’s no miracle (Nepali Times)
Seeing is believing for rice farmers in eastern Nepal who are reaping bumper paddy harvests from fewer seeds. On a recent morning, Ananta Ram Majhi was getting ready to transplant another plot of paddy in this tranquil, green village 30 km east of Biratnagar..

> Thursday 21 July: Nobel Winner: Africa Sacrifices Wildlife for Farms (Reuters)
JOHANNESBURG - Africa must stop pushing out wildlife to make way for farming or it will lose out on crucial tourism revenue, Kenya's Deputy Environment Minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai said on Wednesday.

> Thursday 21 July: EU Experts Fail to Agree on Greece GMO Seed Ban (Reuters)
BRUSSELS - EU food safety experts on Wednesday failed to agree on Greece's ban on planting genetically modified (GMO) maize seeds, leaving the decision to be made by ministers later in the year, a European Commission official said.

> Wednesday 20 July: Angry Farmers Force Closure of China Plant (Reuters)
BEIJING - Chinese farmers have attacked a pharmaceutical plant and forced it to close, angered that its chemical waste was ruining their village's crops, polluting its river and harming their health, officials and residents said.

> Monday 18 July: Hi-tech inputs mooted for village knowledge centres (Financial Express)
The rural economy is set to go hi-tech with promises made for internet and telecom connectivity. By the 60th aniversary of the country’s Independence, on August 15, 2007, each of the 600,000 villages are promised with a village knowledge centre (VKC) based on broadband internet connectivity. There will be one million knowledge workers within this year.

> Friday 15 July: Food movement 'harms environment' (BBC)
The distribution of food across the UK in cars and lorries adds to pollution, congestion and climate change, a report by the government says. It said the environmental cost of moving food was as much as £9bn a year, around half of it due to congestion.

> Friday 15 July: Unborn Babies Carry Pollutants, Study Finds (Reuters)
WASHINGTON - Unborn US babies are soaking in a stew of chemicals, including mercury, gasoline byproducts and pesticides, according to a report released on Thursday.

> Friday 15 July: Birds Spread Pollution in Arctic, Study Finds (Reuters)
WASHINGTON - Sea birds can spread pollutants such as mercury and pesticides across the Arctic in their droppings, Canadian researchers reported on Thursday.

> Wednesday 13 July: Slim Chance of EU Labels for "Biotech" Meat, Eggs (Reuters)
BRUSSELS - EU regulators show no sign of wanting to extend strict labelling laws to foods like meat and eggs coming from animals that have eaten genetically modified (GMO) feed -- annoying green groups but keeping industry happy.

> Sunday 10 July: NCDC charts Rs 6,000 crore investment plan for co-ops (Financial Express)
NEW DELHI - The National Co-operative Development Corporation (NCDC) has prepared a Rs 6,000 crore perspective investment plan for assisting co-operatives in each state in 2005-06. It has set up a taskforce to suggest rehabilitation of sick cooperatives.

> Thursday 7 July: INTERVIEW - Hungary's Organic Farms Fight for European Markets (Reuters)
BUDAPEST - Organic food is in favour among urban Hungarians, but producers make most of their money in western Europe, where market competition is getting tougher, Hungary's main organic food association said.

> Thursday 7 July: US says Cyprus Ties could Suffer over GMO Plan (Reuters)
NICOSIA - A plan by Cyprus to put genetically modified food on separate supermarket shelves angered the United States on Wednesday, as Washington warned the move could harm bilateral ties.

> Thursday 7 July: EU Commission Targets Member States over Biofuels (Reuters)
BRUSSELS - Several European Union states have failed to implement rules promoting biofuels, the bloc's executive said on Wednesday, adding it was starting or advancing legal action against the offending countries.

> Monday 4 July: INTERVIEW - German Organic Farm Sales Boom but Profits Low (Reuters)
HAMBURG - Germany's organic farms are enjoying a dramatic rise in sales but a supermarket price war means farmers are making little money from bio food, the head of Germany's organic food industry association said.

> Friday 1 July: Biotech Crop Policy in EU gets Rethink after Rebuff (Reuters)
BRUSSELS - EU policymakers may be forced to rethink how they stand on biotech crops and foods after national governments recently took a strong stance against them.

> Thursday 30 June: "For Diabetics?"- Organic Food Baffles Russians (Reuters)
MOSCOW - Organic foodstuffs may fill European shops but they are almost totally unknown in Russia where they are seen as luxury items for the affluent few.

> Tuesday 28 June: UK Organic Food Sales Soar Tenfold in Decade (Reuters)
EDINBURGH - UK annual retail sales of organic foodstuffs have soared tenfold to top one billion pounds ($1.83 billion) in the past decade, spurring more growers to get involved, officials at the Soil Association say.

> Monday 27 June: Hungry for an alternative (Independent)
Tewolde Berhan believes that organic farming is the only real solution to famine in Africa. Sally J Hall meets the quiet but formidable Ethiopian who has become a thorn in the side of the GM foods lobby.

> Monday 27 June: EU Ministers Uphold Sovereign Right to Ban GMOs (Reuters)
LUXEMBOURG - EU environment ministers dealt a blow on Friday to efforts to get more GMO crops grown in Europe as they agreed to uphold eight national bans on genetically modified maize and rapeseed types.

> Friday 24 June: EU Governments Ready to Slap Down Order to Lift GMO Bans (Reuters)
BRUSSELS - EU governments may deliver a stinging rebuff to the European Commission this week and uphold their sovereign right to maintain bans on biotech crops and foods if they wish, officials and diplomats said on Thursday.

> Thursday 23 June: Norway to Establish Global Agricultural Seed Bank on Remote Arctic Island (AP)
OSLO — Norway will develop a safety net for key global food supplies by collecting agricultural seeds for a depot on its remote Svalbard Islands in the Arctic, the government announced Thursday.

> Wednesday 22 June: Analysis - China Resists 'Frankenbean' and Sees Windfall (Reuters)
BEIJING - While farmers around the world are switching in droves to hardy, genetically modified soybeans, China's producers are finding an unexpected windfall growing the conventional crop.

> Wednesday 22 June: Sugar reform threatens EU growers (BBC)
Planned reforms to the European sugar industry could wipe out production in a number of EU countries, documents seen by the BBC have revealed.

> Tuesday 21 June: Development Threatens Malaysia's Mangroves (Reuters)
MALAYSIA - The dark green and yellow Great Tit (Parus major) is a bird species that makes its home in Malaysia's coastal mangrove swamps and both are disappearing as the country redoubles it attempts to boost agriculture.

> Monday 20 June: More Africans in Cities than Countryside by 2030 - UN (Reuters)
NAIROBI - Sub-Saharan Africa's traditionally rural-based society is fast disappearing, with more than half its roughly 700 million people seen living in urban areas by 2030, the United Nations said on Friday.

> Monday 20 June: Consumer Group Wants Warning Label on Potato Chips (Reuters)
LOS ANGELES - A California consumer legal group is campaigning to require warning labels on potato chips, saying they contain a chemical known to cause cancer and state law requires the warnings.

> Friday 17 June: Desertification and Dust are Global Threats - Report (Reuters)
OSLO - Desertification threatens to drive millions of people from their homes in coming decades while vast dust storms can damage the health of people continents away, an international report said on Thursday.

> Thursday 16 June: Global Animal Feed Use to Soar as Population Grows (Reuters)
LONDON - Animal protein production will have to treble by 2050 in order to meet population growth and rising living standards in countries like China, the head of the world animal feed body said on Wednesday.

> Thursday 9 June: UN to distribute seed, tools for Eritrea's June planting season (UN news centre)
In an effort to reduce the percentage of the Eritrean population dependent on food aid after five years of severe drought and amid simmering tensions over the disputed border with Ethiopia, the United Nations agricultural agency today said it is distributing seeds and farm implements for the June planting season.

> Wednesday 8 June: CSE finds high levels of pesticides in blood samples (Financial Express)
NEW DELHI - A study conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has found residues of about 13 chemical pesticides in the blood samples collected from rural people in Punjab. The pesticide cocktail includes old and persistent pesticides like DDT and lindane. But it also includes residues of highly toxic (considered not persistent by industry) pesticides like monocrotophos and chloropyrifos.

> Monday 6 June: Brazil, New Zealand block LMOs proposal (Financial Express)
MONTREAL - Brazil and New Zealand were successful in blocking the birth of an effective global regime for disciplining transboundary movement, handling and packaging of living modified organisms (LMOs).

> Monday 6 June: Farming in urban areas can boost food security (FAO)
ROME - With the world's cities growing rapidly, farming in and around urban areas needs to play a bigger role in feeding city populations, FAO said today, on the occasion of World Environment Day (June 5).

> Monday 6 June: Soybean fever transforms Paraguay (BBC)
A soybean boom has ignited in South America. It is fuelled largely by China's burgeoning demand for soy imports and projections that these will continue to surge, along with China's economic growth, for years to come.

> Monday 6 June: ‘Organic farming to boost Punjab’s kharif season’ (Financial Express)
New Delhi - Organic farming, particularly in cotton, in Punjab is set to get a boost in the ensuing kharif (summer) season. A local NGO, Kheti Virasat Mission has conducted several orientation camps amongst farmers, convincing them about the efficacy of organic farming.

> Monday 6 June: EU in Deadlock over New GMO Approval (Reuters)
Brussels - EU food safety experts failed to agree on approving a genetically modified (GMO) maize on Friday, once again revealing Europe's deep divisions over biotech foods, a European Commission official said.

> Friday 3 June: Grandpa's Poisons May Affect You, Rat Tests Show (Reuters)
Washington - Toxic chemicals that poisoned your grandparents, or even great-grandparents, may also affect your health, US researchers suggested on Thursday. A study in rats shows the effects of certain toxic chemicals were passed on for four generations of males.

> Thursday 2 June: Japan Finds US Biotech Corn, now to Test all Imports (Reuters)
Washington/Chicago - Japan, the biggest buyer of US corn, found an American shipment tainted with the unapproved Bt-10 biotech variety and will begin testing every US cargo, a Japanese official told Reuters on Wednesday.

> Thursday 2 June: France Launches Drive to Boost Organic Food Sales (Reuters)
Paris - France launched a national campaign to promote organic produce on Wednesday, kicking off 10 days of events to boost a sector that has struggled to make its mark in Europe's agricultural powerhouse.

> Wednesday 1 June: New EU Law Promises Unhappy Chickens a Better Life (Reuters)
Brussels - Billions of chickens killed each year to be put on dinner tables across Europe could soon see their unhappy lives improve, thanks to a new EU law unveiled on Tuesday that aims to tighten hygiene and welfare standards.

> Tuesday 31 May: Italy Calls for Independent EU Research on GMOs (Reuters)
Brussels - Italy called on Monday for Europe's top food safety agency to use its own research, rather than data from the biotech industry, in assessing the risks of genetically modified (GMO) foods and crops.

> Monday 30 May: Icrisat project wins World Bank Development Marketplace Award (Financial Express)
New Delhi - The project developed by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) for managing the pigeonpea pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera, through the production and use of the biopesticide Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus (NPV) has won World Bank’s Development Marketplace Award for 2005.

> Monday 30 May: Need to set up a global liability regime for GMOs (Financial Express)
Discussions are on for evolving a global liability regime to address the damages likely to be caused on account of transboundary movement of living modified organisms (LMOs). This mechanism is slated to be incorporated in the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The protocol came into effect from September 11, 2003 and it was also decided to put in place an appropriate liability regime within four years.

> Friday 27 May: Biotech Food Debate Spices Up US Scientist Meeting (Reuters)
Kansas City - Critics of biotech foods spoke of stomach lesions and dead lab rats while backers of the technology cited increased crop production and hopes for healthier foods in a debate before a group of US scientists on Thursday.

> Friday 27 May: Global Warming Will Increase World Hunger - UN (Reuters)
Rome - Global warming is likely to significantly diminish food production in many countries and greatly increase the number of hungry people, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said on Thursday.

> Thursday 26 May: Exposure to pesticides can cause Parkinson's (New Scientist)
Suspicions that pesticides could cause Parkinson's disease have been strengthened. The more pesticide you are exposed to, the higher your risk of developing the disease, say investigators who have studied almost 3000 people in five European countries. Users with low exposure such as amateur gardeners were 9 per cent more likely than non-users to develop the disease, and high-exposure users such as farmers were 43 per cent more likely.

> Thursday 26 May: India to press for liability regime at Cartagena Protocol (Financial Express)
New Delhi - India has called for a defined international liability regime to redress the damages resulting from transboundary movements of living modified organisms (LMOs). This liability regime should be incorporated under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety which came into effect from September 11 2003.

> Thursday 26 May: Tainted Biotech Maize Impounded at Irish Port (Reuters)
Brussels - A United States consignment of genetically modified corn gluten feed tainted with an illegal strain has been impounded upon arrival at an Irish port, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

> Sunday 22 May: Revealed: health fears over secret study into GM food (Independent)
UK - Rats fed on a diet rich in genetically modified corn developed abnormalities to internal organs and changes to their blood, raising fears that human health could be affected by eating GM food.

> Friday 20 May: Brazil Greens Quit Government Over Amazon Destruction (Reuters)
Brasilia - Legislators for Brazil's small Green Party quit the government on Thursday to protest its failure to prevent a near-record rise in destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

> Friday 20 May: EU Fails Again to Break Deep Deadlock on GMO Foods (Reuters)
Brussels - The European Union again revealed its deep divisions over biotech foods on Thursday as national experts failed to agree on two separate requests to import genetically modified (GMO) maize, officials said.

> Thursday 19 May: Amazon Destruction Accelerating in Brazil (Reuters)
Brasilia - The amount of land cleared in Brazil's Amazon jungle rose sharply again in 2003-2004, with environmentalists fearing more destruction is inevitable because of a farming boom.

> Tuesday 17 May: Small family farms 'may vanish' (BBC)
UK - Traditional family farms could soon disappear, National Farmers' Union President Tim Bennett has warned. The farmers' leader blames cheap food prices and the changes to the way European subsidies are calculated.

> Monday 16 May: Nepad's Agricultural Policy Set in Motion (Public Agenda)
Accra - Specific consultations between African Ministers of Agriculture and Ministers of finance to identify mechanisms to channel more external resources into the agricultural sector, is one of the recommendations of the round- up meeting of the New Partnership for Africa's Development's (NEPAD's) Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme's (CAADP's) implementation roll-out plan.

> Monday 16 May: Agriculture Main Source of Subsistence in Region - SADC Chairman (Angola Press Agency)
Luanda - The chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Paul Raymond Berenger, reiterates that agriculture, with about 80 percent of the region's productive force, is still the main source of subsistence of most citizens of member countries.

> Saturday 14 May: Culture-Swaziland: Making a Bull Market for Cows (Inter Press Service)
Johannesburg - When is a cow considerably more than the sum of its parts? When the animal happens to live in one of a good many developing countries, probably - not least Swaziland. In this small Southern African state cattle are, paradoxically, both slaughtered to mark cultural events - and kept alive at all costs by owners who have grown attached to them.

> Friday 13 May: Government to Support Co-Operatives' Activities (The Monitor)
Kampala - The government in collaboration with other development partners has pledged to financially support cooperative societies. To this effect, all cooperatives have been told to prepare their business plans and hand them to the parent ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry (MTTI).

> Friday 13 May: EU Postpones Key Vote on Approving New "Live" GMO (Reuters)
Brussels - The European Commission has postponed a watershed vote of EU environment experts on whether to allow a new genetically modified (GMO) crop to be grown in Europe's fields, officials at the EU executive said on Thursday.

> Friday 13 May: Better way to fight poverty - test case for the UN program to cut poverty in half by 2015 (New York Times ed.)
Kenya - The village of Sauri is an example of a better way to do things. Sauri's story shows how direct aid can largely bypass governments, getting money and help straight into the hands of the people who not only need it the most, but also know what to do with it. Much of the money will go to help farmers improve their crop yields.

> Tuesday 10 May: Low Food Output Worry Researchers (The Monitor)
Kampala - Food policy researchers have expressed shock at the continued low agricultural production, despite continued efforts and investments in food production over the last 40 years. The findings are alarming given that agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 65 percent of Africans and represents 30-40 percent of the continent's gross domestic production and accounts for almost 60 percent of its export income.

> Monday 9 May: ‘Seize illegal biotech cotton seeds’ (Financial Express)
New Delhi - Farmers’ organisations and NGOs have urged the regulatory body Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) to direct the state governments concerned to seize stocks of illegal and unapproved varieties of Bt cotton seeds before the sowing season.

> Monday 9 May: Resumption of WTO talks: EU’s next move needs to be watched (Financial Express)
> A ray of hope has emerged for resumption of talks on agriculture at the WTO as the five interested parties (FIPs) agreed on a formula for conversion of specific duties into ad valorem equivalents (AVEs). The FIPs are the US, European Union, Brazil, Australia and India.

> Monday 9 May: UN May Add New Chemicals to 'Dirty Dozen' Ban (Reuters)
Uruguay - Countries at a UN meeting in Uruguay agreed on Friday to consider adding four new chemicals to the "dirty dozen" list of banned pesticides and industrial chemicals, a UN official said.

> Tuesday 3 May: Declining EU soil quality poses threat to farming
(FT.com)
European agriculture is under threat as the quality of soil worsens, particularly in eastern states. More than 16 per cent of the European Union's land is affected by soil degradation, but in the accession countries more than a third is affected, according to the first Soil Atlas of Europe, published last week.

> Tuesday 3 May: India bans Monsanto GM cotton seeds (Aljazeera)
India has barred Monsanto Company and its Indian partners from selling three varieties of genetically modified cotton in a southern Indian state.

> Thursday 28 April: EU Experts Fail to Agree GMO Maize Approval, Again (Reuters)
Brussels - EU food safety experts failed to agree on Wednesday on authorising imports of a genetically modified (GMO) maize, revealing their deadlock over biotech foods for the 10th time in a row, officials said.

> Wednesday 27 April: US Corn Grower Official Cites Japan Biotech Qualms (Reuters)
Washington - Japan is seeking further assurance from the United States that an unapproved biotech corn strain accidentally mixed with US grain shipments was not a risk to people, animals or plants, a senior official of a US industry group told Reuters Tuesday.

> Wednesday 20 April: Brazil Land Conflicts Worst in Decades - Report (Reuters)
Brasilia - Land battles in Brazil's countryside reached the highest level in at least 20 years in 2004 as activists clashed with farmers and loggers advancing on savanna and Amazon rain forest, a nongovernmental group said on Tuesday.

> Tuesday 19 April: South Africa: Land claim could change the destiny of a people (IRIN)
Richtersveld - Gert Domroch has lived in the Nama village of Kuboes in a remote corner of South Africa's Northern Cape Province for all of his 75 years. From his backyard, the old man gestures with his pipe to the surrounding expanse of windswept desert against a backdrop of jagged volcanic mountains: "This is the land of our forefathers and we've been dispossessed."

> Tuesday 19 April: Natural Sugar Trend May Sweeten Rural Incomes (Business Day)
Johannesburg - The ancient art of traditional sugar production and the international trend towards natural products may contribute to an agricultural franchise that can boost rural income levels.

> Monday 18 April: Honduran Farm Workers Sue Companies Over Pesticide (Reuters)
Los Angeles - More than 600 Honduran banana pickers are suing some of the world's biggest fruit growers and chemical manufacturers, claiming they distributed and used a US-banned pesticide in Central America that was known to cause sterility.

> Monday 18 April: Storm of protest against nod for more Bt crops (Financial Express)
New Delhi, Hyderabad - Farmers’ groups and civil society organisations across the country have expressed deep concerns over the country’s regulatory authority approving new biotech (Bt) cotton hybrids for cultivation in new areas when the case for extension of the approval period for three such varieties under cultivation has become controversial.

> Monday 18 April: Brazil Forms Indian Reserve in Disputed Amazon (Reuters)
Brasilia - Brazil on Thursday announced the long-delayed creation of a reserve for some 15,000 Indians who will displace non-indigenous farmers in a hotly disputed remote part of Brazil's Amazon.

> Monday 18 April: Fair trade rules can lift millions out of poverty (Financial Express)
What can lift millions of people in developing countries out of poverty? Is it fair trade or aid or pragmatic national policies?

> Monday 18 April: FEATURE - Reindeer Herders, Loggers Clash Over Ancient Woods. (Reuters)
Nellim, Finland - Reindeer herder Petri Hanninen looks over a barren plot of felled forest near Finland's border with Russia.

> Monday 18 April: EU Clashes with US over GMO Maize Feed Imports (Reuters)
Brussels - Europe and the United States crossed swords on Friday after EU experts blocked imports of US maize animal feed and grains unless there is proof they are untainted by an illegal genetically modified organism (GMO).

> Friday 15 April: EU's GMO Feed Measures Not Likely Until Next Week (Reuters)
Brussels - The European Union is likely to decide next week to ban imports of genetically modified (GMO) animal feed unless there is proof the feed is free of an illegal strain, a spokesman for the EU executive said on Thursday.

> Wednesday 13 April: EU Eyes Certification of US GMO Feed - Source (Reuters)
Brussels - The EU is considering requiring the United States to certify exports to Europe of genetically modified (GMO) animal feed are free of an illegal strain, an EU source said on Tuesday.

> Friday 8 April: Quarter of Primates Nearly Extinct - Report (Reuters)
Antananarivo - The earth's most successful primates - humans - are on the verge of killing off nearly a quarter of the 625 other species of primate on the planet, according to new global report.

> Monday 4 April: EU Angry Over Imports of Unauthorised GMO Maize (Reuters)
Brussels - Unauthorised genetically modified (GMO) maize has found its way into Europe in food and animal feed, angering EU authorities and highlighting European sensitivity over the issue, the EU executive said on Friday.

> Monday 4 April: Newcomers Want More 'Green' in Next US Farm Law (Reuters)
Washington - While Congress wrangles over paring US agricultural programs this year by a few billion dollars, an amalgam of environmental groups, small-farm advocates, deficit hawks and anti-hunger activists is focused on the big prize - a wholesale remodeling of farm subsidies.

> Monday 4 April: South American Ministers Reject Monsanto Soy Royalty Plan (Reuters)
Buenos Aires - Farm ministers from Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, the world's top soybean exporters behind the United States, on Friday shunned a bid by US biotech pioneer Monsanto to charge royalties on genetically modified soybeans when they are harvested.

> Thursday 31 March: Amnesty International Urges Brazil to Help its Indians (Reuters)
Brasilia - Amnesty International urged Brazil's government on Wednesday to respect the claims of Indians to their ancestral lands, saying failure to do so had increased violence and discrimination against them.

> Wednesday 30 March: Human Damage To Earth Worsening Fast - Report (Reuters)
Oslo - Humans are damaging the planet at an unprecedented rate and raising risks of abrupt collapses in nature that could spur disease, deforestation or "dead zones" in the seas, an international report said on Wednesday.

> Wednesday 30 March: EU Seeks Advice on Long-Term Effects of GMO Crops (Reuters)
Brussels - The European Commission wants to know how genetically modified (GMO) crops might affect human and animal health in the longer term, eight years after the EU first allowed biotech crops, a document showed on Tuesday.

> Thursday 24 March: Tiny Weed Defies Laws of Genetic Inheritance (Reuters)
London - A tiny weed has defied accepted laws by receiving traits from its grandparents that were not carried by its parents, scientists said on Wednesday.

> Thursday 24 March: Weather Lifts Western Europe Crops, Worries in France (Reuters)
London - Good growing weather has lifted grain crop prospects in much of western Europe, but a lack of rain in parts of France is stoking fears of a repeat of the damaging 2003 drought, analysts said on Wednesday.

> Wednesday 23 March: Syngenta Sold Some Unapproved Biotech Corn in US (Reuters)
Washington - Corn seeds developed by Swiss agrochemicals group Syngenta AG were mistakenly contaminated during 2001 through 2004 with a strain of genetically modified corn that had not been approved for distribution, the company said Tuesday.

> Wednesday 23 March: Poland to Ban Monsanto GMO Maize Seed (Reuters)
Warsaw - Poland wants to ban the import and planting of 17 varieties of genetically modified (GMO) maize seed made by US biotech giant Monsanto for two years, a senior Farm Ministry official said on Tuesday.

> Tuesday 22 March: Biggest Study of GMO Finds Impact on Birds, Bees (Reuters)
London - The world's biggest study to date on the impact of genetically modified (GMO) crops on wildlife found birds and bees are more likely to thrive in fields of natural rapeseed than GMO seed, scientists said.

> Tuesday 22 March: EU States Overruled on GMOs by Own Deadlock - Greens (Reuters)
Brussels - Europe could see a series of new biotech foods quietly approved with no influence from EU governments if they cannot escape from years of deadlock over genetically modified (GMO) foods, green groups warned on Monday.

> Monday 21 March: G-20 meet creates grand alliance of the Third World countries (Financial Express)
The two-day G-20 ministerial summit which concluded in Delhi on March 19 endorsed the view that discussions on agriculture are central to the WTO negotiations. It conveyed the message of a need for maintaining unity in the Third World for fighting for justice in global trade.

> Friday 18 March: Study rejects Bt cotton (Financial Express)
New Delhi - The three-year study conducted by the Gene Campaign has rated the performance of Bt cotton hybrids as poor. The varieties have been developed by Mahyco in collaboration with Monsanto.

> Friday 18 March: Indian farms to adopt European standards soon (Financial Express)
Jalandhar - The implementation of the European retail chain standards in horticulture farms in the country is likely to keep growers off transgenic crops.

> Friday 18 March: German Biofuel Firms to Become Large Grain Buyers (Reuters)
HAMBURG - New plants for production of bioethanol fuel entering service in Germany will start consuming significant volumes of grain this year -- but only at very low prices, market players fear.

> Friday 18 March: Monsanto: Biotech Wheat Revival Unlikely (Reuters)
Chicago - Biotech crop pioneer Monsanto Co. said on Wednesday it was unlikely any time soon to resurrect its project to develop genetically modified wheat, which it suspended last May. The company instead would plow its resources into a conventionally bred variety of soybeans that will produce a cooking oil with a lower level of cholesterol-producing trans fatty acids.

> Friday 18 March: Thai Farmers Pray For Rain as Drought Bites Hard (Reuters)
Phimai - Like millions of Thai farmers, Luen Proongruan is desperate for rain to revive her rice crop and ease her perpetual battle against poverty.

> Friday 18 March: UK Biodiesel Plant With Tesco Backing Gets Go-Ahead (Reuters)
London - A 100,000-tonne biodiesel fuel plant in which supermarket giant Tesco has a stake should come on line on England's east coast in a little over a year, Greenergy Fuels Ltd. said on Thursday.

> Wednesday 16 March: Madagascar To Spend $110M US Aid On Land Reform (Reuters)
Antananarivo - Madagascar plans to spend the bulk of a promised $110 million grant from the United States to reform its land policies and provide credit to the rural poor to invest in better farming, a top official said on Tuesday.

> Tuesday 15 March: South Africa Maize Farmers See Ethanol Plant In 18 Months (Reuters)
Johannesburg - South Africa's maize growers hope to make inroads into a three million tonne surplus when the first of eight planned ethanol plants starts operating within 18 months, farmers said on Monday.

> Monday 14 March: Consumers say no to GM food (Consumers International)
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are the focus of the 2005 World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD). Consumer groups are demanding that governments label all GM products, follow international safety standards, and take action to protect GM-free crops. WCRD takes place on Tuesday 15 March 2005 and will be celebrated all over the world.

> Monday 14 March: US, EU should learn from WTO body’s rulings on cotton, sugar (Financial Express)
Developed countries must learn from recent WTO rulings relating to subsidy on cotton in the US and support for sugar in the EU. European farmers are supported by artificially high domestic prices of sugar and high tariff barriers. In the US cotton prices are artificially depressed denying cotton growers in developing countries, particularly Africa, a fair price in the global market.

> Monday 14 March: World GMO Treaty Pits EU Against Its Trade Partners (Reuters)
Brussels - Europe looks on course for another clash with its top trading partners over genetically modified (GMO) foods as negotiations get under way for the gradual enforcement of a treaty to control global GMO trade.

> Monday 14 March: Green Groups Question UK Wildlife Initiative (Reuters)
London - UK farmers are to get state cash to help wildlife flourish, but green groups on Friday said the move was unlikely to repair much of the damage caused by years of intensive production.

> Friday 11 March: Australia Struggles to Win Support for GMO Crops (Reuters)
Sydney - Consumer opposition in Australia last month forced its three biggest poultry producers to stop using imported, genetically modified feed to fatten the 450 million birds they put on the market each year.

> Thursday 10 March: UK Firms Drop GMO Study, Seek to Boost Regular Seed (Reuters)
London - Consumer fears of genetically modified (GMO) food have dealt a heavy blow to Britain's biotech industry, with many scientists leaving the sector and firms refocusing on conventional research, industry analysts said.

> Wednesday 9 March: EPO revokes neem patent rights (Financial Express)
New Delhi - The European Patent Office (EPO) finally decided to revoke in entirety a patent right it had earlier granted on a fungicide derived from an Indian medicinal plant, neem. It said the patent application was an act of biopiracy.

> Wednesday 9 March: Safety Concerns Keep E.Asia Consumers Off GMO Food (Reuters)
Tokyo/Seoul - Nine years after the debut of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the world market, consumers in East Asia are still worried about eating GMO food, although the region uses grain from such crops for feed.

> Friday 4 March: Biologists Fret As Mexico Butterfly Numbers Dive (Reuters)
El Rosario - A plunge in the number of monarch butterflies migrating from the United States and Canada to Mexican winter colonies has experts worried logging and pesticides are endangering the fragile insects.

> Thursday 3 March: Report slams Bt cotton (Financial Express)
New Delhi - A report by an expert team led by Andhra Pradesh commissioner and director of agriculture has revealed that Bt cotton has given poor yields in Warangal district and has caused losses to farmers.

> Thursday 3 March: Think Global and Buy Local Say British Food Gurus (Reuters)
London - People should buy their food as much as possible from local sources as part of global efforts to stop potentially catastrophic climate change, British environment experts said on Wednesday.

> Thursday 3 March: Hungary Producers Warn of Illegal GMO Maize Influx (Reuters)
Budapest - Hungarian seed producers warned farmers on Wednesday about a suspected illegal inflow of genetically modified (GMO) maize seed from Romania and called for government measures to stem it.

> Tuesday 1 March: New research documents negative effects of glyphosate and Roundup on human placental cells (Caen University)
France - A group from the University of Caen, Normandy have published original results concerning the toxicity of Roundup. Roundup is one of the most used herbicides worldwide and the most used with genetically modified plants (GMOs).

> Tuesday 1 March: EU Warns of Bullying on GMOs Through WTO Case (Reuters)
Brussels - Europe's opponents in the debate on genetically modified (GMO) foods should not use an international trade case to bully the EU into changing its views on biotechnology, the EU's food safety chief said on Monday.

> Tuesday 1 March: Lawmaking on Genetic (GMO) Food is Minefield For EU (Reuters)
Brussels - The European Union remains deeply divided over genetically modified (GMO) foods, with the planting of biotech seeds a tremendously touchy area even though Brussels has resumed authorising GMO products after a break of nearly six years.

> Tuesday 1 March: Red Tape, Media Stop Russia Growing GMO Crops (Reuters)
Moscow - Red tape and aggressive media campaigns against genetically modified (GMO) products will keep Russia outside the group of GMO crop-growing countries in the near future, producers and scientists said.

> Monday 28 February: Can India afford to grow transgenic crops? (Financial Express)
New Delhi - An assessment done by the Economic Survey 2004-05 on the status and future of agriexports in India has raised a pertinent question as to whether India can afford to grow transgenic crops Referring particularly to the exports of oil meals from India, the survey said that its growth has increased and sustained on account of its “non-GM nature.”

> Monday 28 February: UK Fairtrade product sales soar (BBC)
Sales of fair trade products grew by more than 50% in the UK last year, according to figures released by the Fairtrade Foundation. The foundation said UK consumers now supported the concept of fair trade more than in any other country.

> Monday 28 February: EU Commission Plans GMOs Debate, End Policy Void (Reuters)
Brussels - The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, plans to thrash out soon where it stands on biotech foods in a bid to end the current policy vacuum, the EU's farm chief told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

> Thursday 24 February: EU Biodiesel Boom Not Threatening Food Needs (Reuters)
Amsterdam - The European biodiesel industry's appetite for rapeseed oil is likely to keep growing but food requirements are assured, the EU vegetable oil industry federation said on Wednesday.

> Wednesday 23 February: MPs Seek Action On Rice Tariffs (The East African Standard)
Nairobi - Members of Parliament from tea growing areas want the Government to immediately suspend the 75 per cent tariff imposed on rice imports from Pakistan.

> Friday 18 February: Brazil Orders Amazon Reserve After Killing (HeraldTribune)
Brazil - Brazil's president ordered the creation of a huge Amazon environmental protection area in a lawless region coveted by soy farmers and ranchers less than a week after an American nun was gunned down trying to protect the jungle from deforestation.

> Wednesday 16 February: Prawns: Bangladesh's mixed blessing (BBC)
Tiger prawns are Bangladesh's second biggest export earner, but as the industry grows, so too do allegations of displacement, violence and environmental destruction.

> Sunday 13 February: Govt charts Vision 2010 for Unani (Financial Express)
New Delhi - The government has prepared a draft Vision 2010 document for encouraging the growth of the ancient Unani system of medicine and associated plantation and conservation of herbal medicinal plants.

> Saturday 12 February: U.S. Headed for Net Importer of Food (Monitor)
Kampala - The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has said the United States is to become a net importer of food and agricultural products in 2005. In a recent press statement, the IFPRI Director General, Mr Joachim von Braun, said the trend reflects major opportunities for agricultural producing nations, especially poor countries, more source of foreign exchange earnings.

> Friday 11 February: Ban Endures On Terminator Seeds (Inter Press Service)
An international moratorium on the use of controversial "terminator technology" in genetically engineered crops survived efforts to overturn it at a United Nations interim meeting on the Convention on Biological Diversity in Bangkok Friday.

> Friday 11 February: Pastoralists' meeting shared ideas on sustainable development – UN (UN news centre)
More than 100 pastoralist leaders were assembled in Ethiopia by United Nations agencies for a meeting to share ideas on sustainable development and introduce governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to ways of enhancing their socio-economic contributions.

> Monday 7 February: California Wine Country Considers Biotech Ban (Reuters)
San francisco - A measure to ban genetically modified crops in the heart of California's wine country has qualified for a local ballot, officials said on Friday.

> Friday 4 February: European Shelves Are Mostly GMO-Free - Greenpeace (Reuters)
Brussels - Europe's supermarket shelves remain free of almost all biotech produce as top retailers shun genetically modified (GMO) foods, environment group Greenpeace said on Thursday, claiming this was due to consumer opposition.

> Thursday 3 February: Netherlands Probes Animal Feed Threats (Reuters)
Amsterdam - Dutch authorities are investigating several suspected cases of animal feed being mixed with banned chemicals, and have taken measures to protect public health, the justice ministry said on Wednesday.

> Thursday 3 February: France Unveils Biofuel Plan to Meet EU 2010 Target (Reuters)
Paris - France unveiled on Wednesday details of its plan to triple the country's biofuel output within three years and said it still hoped to meet the output target set by the European Union for 2010.

> Wednesday 2 February: New Hope for Farm Industries (The Nation)
Nairobi - Two World Bank officials are in western Kenya to study the economic viability and sustainability of farm-based industries. The aim is to transfer the idea elsewhere should the industries be successful.

> Tuesday 1 February: 'Third World Countries Cannot Afford to Lose Agric Deals' (The Herald)
Harare - Third World countries cannot afford to lose the benefits of agricultural deals in 2005, says the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

> Monday 31 January: LMMCs gear up for 5-day meet on sharing bio-resources (Financial Express)
The like-minded mega-diverse countries (LMMCs) are gearing up for the five-day third ad hoc open-ended meeting of the working group on access and benefit sharing of bio-resources, scheduled from February 14 in Bangkok in Thailand.

> Thursday 27 January: Swaziland: Sugar Farmers Urged to Diversify As EU Slashes Subsidy (IRIN)
The recent drop in world sugar prices, coupled with a change in European Union (EU) purchasing agreements, is threatening to put Swazi producers out of business. Sugar is Swaziland's biggest industry, delivering an annual turnover of about US $1.5 billion and exports of more than $637 million.

> Thursday 27 January: Indian Farmers to Be Given Land (The Times of Zambia)
Ndola - India and Zambia are working out ways to allocate tracts of land to Indian farmers to help boost the agricultural industry in Zambia.

> Thursday 27 January: Cattle Starve as Rainless Portugal Faces Drought (Reuters)
Portugal - Jose Maltez gazed at the carcass of the Saller-Charolez cross-breed already starting to bloat under a cloudless sky.

> Wednesday 26 January: Ethiopia to Host World's Largest Indigenous Pastoralists Gathering (The Daily Monitor)
Addis Ababa - A remote village in Ethiopia's south will play host to the world's largest gathering of indigenous pastoralists from 23 countries around the world.

> Monday 24 January: European GMO conference calls for regional governance (GENET)
Berlin - The Regions of Europe should be given the final say on the growing of genetically modified crops (GMOs) in their area, a major European conference today concluded.

> Sunday 23 January: Number of indigenous milch cows down 6% (Financial Express)
New Delhi - The declining trend in the population of indigenous milch cows has invited concern of experts and the government, for addressing issues of nutritional security and rural livelihood of millions.

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