1.Bt cotton merry-go-round
2.FFT finds Bt cotton defective
3.The problems and successes of GM crops

EXCERPTS: "even though the reality of GM crops is lacklustre, the industry's PR machine works overtime to maintain the fiction that it's a glittering success...

"And that same kind of hype and concealment's going on right around the world. You've got people like Prakash telling farmers in Africa GM will double their production. In India you've got Monsanto pumping out studies and claims that GM cotton is great for Indian farmers, sales are up etc., etc., and at the same time you've got carefully conducted research in India showing the diametric opposite. You've also got protests going on and even stories of farmers killing themselves because their crops failed, but Monsanto's PR machine captures far more of the headlines." (item 3)

But maybe not this time! See item 1 below
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1.Bt cotton merry-go-round

COMPARE & CONTRAST THESE RECENT HEADLINES

*Swadeshi Bt seeds help Gujarat raise cotton production eight-fold
Webindia123 - India
... GEAC) declared its usage as illegal and instead gave approval to 'Bollgard' in 2002, had found to be superior to 'Mahyco-Monsanto' Bt cotton seeds in Indian ...
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=167620&n_date=20051120&cat=India

*FFT finds Bt cotton defective
Webindia123 - India
... who visited the villages in Dharmabad block of Nanded district to take stock of the reports, found ''adversely affected'' almost all the Bt cotton plots here ...
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=164069&cat=India

*Monsanto worried as fake Bt cotton seeds flourish
Business Standard - India
... technology (Bt) patent holder Monsanto and the licensee Mahyco Monsanto Biotech Limited with increasing market share of illegal Bt cotton seed manufactures. ...
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?storyflag=y&leftnm=lmnu1&leftindx=1&lselect=1&chklogin=N&autono=205297

*NGO findings on Bt cotton raise a stink
Financial Express - Bombay, India
NEW DELHI, NOV 15: Reacting strongly to the studies done by a network of local NGOs reporting failures of Bt cotton crops in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya ...
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=108761

*Bt cotton seeds fail to germinate
Checkbiotech.org - Basel,Switzerland
Up to 75 per cent of the Bt cotton seeds in 35 per cent of the area sown in parts of Salem and Namakkal districts of Tamil Nadu is said to have failed to ...
http://www.checkbiotech.org/root/index.cfm?fuseaction=news&doc_id=11622&start=1&control=201&page_start=1&page_nr=101&pg=1

*Wilting of Bt cotton in MP, farmers demand ban on cos
NewKerala.com - Ernakulam, Kerala, India
Bhopal: The genetically modified Bt cotton crops in over two lakh acre area in Nirmar region in western Madhya Pradesh suffered partial or complete wilting ...
http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=52326

*India : Gujarat has most reliable cotton quality for exports
Fibre2fashion.com - India
... of cotton.Gujarat seems to be ideally placed to partially fulfil this shortage, thanks to an extremely good monsoon and extensive use of Bt-cotton seeds this ...
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textile-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=8839

*Team finds Bt Cotton prone to pest disease
Webindia123 - India
.. some villages in Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh felt the Government should put in place, systems which would assess the situation of Bt Cotton vis-a-vis ...
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=157082&cat=India

*Paying the price of Bt Cotton
Hindustan Times - India
Apparently, Bt cotton has come with a huge price tag attached -- Bt cotton farmers in Nimar are supposed to have lost about Rs 400 crore, as nearly half of ...
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5922_1553438,0015002100000000.htm
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2.FFT finds Bt cotton defective
Hyderabad / November 16, 2005
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=164069&cat=India

The Fact Finding Team (FFT) who visited the villages in Dharmabad block of Nanded district to take stock of the reports, found ''adversely affected'' almost all the Bt cotton plots here today.

The team headed by agriculture scientist from YUVA, Nagpur Palash Ranjan Ghohal and Kavitha Karuganti of Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Secunderabad found almost all the Bt Cotton plots in various degrees were found in a particular condition called 'Itkar Rog' by the farmers.

FFT, which comprised General Secretary of Maharashtra Sarpanch Sanghatana in Nanded Gopal Patil and a farmer and social worker from Dharmabad Ravi Shetty, in a press release said all plants were red in color, mostly leaves and stem. All fields appeared red even from a distance.

There was also stunted growth and average number of bolls per plant seen and reported was only around 15-20 bolls per plant. There was no clear indication of particular hybrids being more adversely affected, as per FFT, though some farmers felt that late duration varieties had survived the disease better in a comparative sense.

FFT recommended to the govern