Effect of the leaf extracts of Alstonia scholaris and Calotropis procera on infestation and damage of the fruit fly in bitter gourd was studied.

The subject of the ‘mixed bag’, which proposes non-Bt-cotton seeds be mixed with Bt-cotton seeds in the same bag, has raised an interesting debate in this journal. It was flagged by Hanur, who recommended that the mixed bag should be allowed in India. He made this proposal pointing out that the extent of adoption of structured refuge in this country was unsatisfactory. Later, Muralimohan and Srinivasa conveyed their reservations against the recommendation. (Correspondence)

Rothamsted's genetically engineered wheat should be allowed to grow. (Editorial)

Nature is kind enough to create human beings after all its other creation so that we can enjoy and live happily and
easily. But owing to our memory and thinking capacities, we became selfish and lazy and wanted to have everything for

Farmers Diary - Recalling biodiversity, farming the Agnihotra way. Homa farming is a system which comes from ancient science of Vedas. Homa is a Sanskrit word used here synonymously with Yajnya. Yajnya is the technical term from the Vedic science of bio energy denoting the process of removing the toxic conditions of the atmosphere through the

Owls are natural predators of rodents, of which seven species are agriculturally important pests. Conserving owls will not only result in better rodent control preventing huge crop losses, but will also prevent indiscriminate chemical use, thus preserving the ecological diversity. Educational programs will go a long way in achieving this.

The subject of the ‘mixed bag’, which proposes non-Bt-cotton seeds be mixed with Bt-cotton seeds in the same bag, has raised an interesting debate in this journal. It was flagged by Hanur, who recommended that the mixed bag should be allowed in India. He made this proposal pointing out that the extent of adoption of structured refuge in this country was unsatisfactory. Later, Muralimohan and Srinivasa conveyed their reservations against the recommendation.

Transgenes encoding for insecticidal crystal (Cry) proteins from the soil-dwelling bacterium Bacillus Thuringiensis have been widely introduced into Genetically Modified (GM) crops to confer protection against insect pests. Concern that these transgenes may also harm beneficial or otherwise valued insects (so-called Non Target Organisms, NTOs) represents a major element of the Environmental Risk Assessments (ERAs) used by all countries prior to commercial release.

Given that the controversy over success and failure of Bt technology still exists, this paper discusses the available field studies that have addressed agro-economic questions of Bt cotton cultivation in India. Since a meta-analysis of studies can give only partial conclusions, owing to differences across study methodologies and coverage, this paper takes a different strategy, i e, looking not simply at differences between Bt farms and non-Bt farms, but at the experience of farmers before growing Bt and after switching to Bt.