Biotech (Bt) or transgenic cotton is the miracle seed that resists bollworm an insect which used to destroy a third to half of our cotton crop each year. India's cotton revolution is the subject of constant discussion at global agricultural forums, but in India almost no one has heard of it. Now that the door has been opened for the use of transgenic biotechnology on one crop, I hope it will soon be approved for other crops. By planting Bt cotton farmers have successfully fought the insect...

Tortilla bummer Higher grain costs have prompted the world s largest maker of corn flower to boost the price for wheat tortillas that the company sells in the U. Gruma SAB, based in Mexico, said the cost of its Mission brand wheat tortillas will rise by 10 percent before the end of this year. Many mutual funds are estimating that they ll make big taxable distributions of income and net capital gains to shareholders this year, and means investors planning to buy or sell fund shares in the...

Straw bale-gardening instructions typically tell you to use ammonium nitrate to decay the bales, but Bea just watered them a little between rains to stimulate the process. Local feed and seed stores typically carry this fertilizer, which entices microbes to feed on the straw, causing it to rot. The bales are supposed to decompose some before you plant in them, so Bea plans to let decomposition happen over winter. Some straw bale gardeners get two season's use out of the bales but Bea...

Within a few hours, an armed militia showed up at the farm on a minibus and, shortly afterwards, Keno was killed and several more protesters were seriously injured. Keno died trying to stop the development of a research farm for genetically modified soya and corn next to the environmentally sensitive Iguacu National Park, becoming in the process a martyr for the anti-GM movement. by Leonard Doyle When a Brazilian peasant organiser led a group of landless farmers on to a European-owned farm...

International Energy is working to develop advanced biotechnology protocols for enhanced growth and biofuel productivity based entirely on the photosynthesis of algae, which have the unique capability of taking a waste (zero-energy) form of carbon (CO(2)) and converting it into a high-density liquid form of energy (natural oil) International Energy Launches 'Algae to Oil' Initiatives - Forbes.com. International Energy is working to develop advanced biotechnology protocols for enhanced...

Oil prices retreated as profit taking set in on Thursday after crude hit a hit a nominal record above $96 a barrel in after-hours trading on Wednesday following a sharp drop in US inventories that left them at their lowest level in two years. The tight stae of global energy markets was underlined by data from Japan on Wedneday where oil inventories also fell last week to 97. Dollar weakness following a further reduction in US interest rates by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday was a key...