brinjal – Ubinig

2. Covid-19: BANGLADESH: Brinjal story: Local varieties exist, not GMOs

15May

By testNo Comments

2. Covid-19: BANGLADESH: Brinjal story: Local varieties exist, not GMOs

UBINIG In the month of Ramadan (fasting by the Muslim communities for a month), the demand for brinjal/eggplant/aubergine is the highest as it is one of the most popular item, the Beguni, for Iftar time (breaking of the fast in the evening). Chola (black gram) Peyaju (fried lentil mixed with onions) and Beguni (fried eggplant mixed with beson, the gram powder). Health professionals do not recommend these fried items for empty stomachs after a whole day of fasting. However, from the rich to the poor, Iftar is incomplete without chola-peyaju-beguni on the plate. This Ramadan, starting on 25th April, is different from all other years. The country is going through an undeclared “Lockdown” amid COVID-19 pandemic. The first COVID-19 infection detection was on 8th March with 3 cases, ...

Third round of Bt Brinjal: farmers are not interested

Farida Akhter Bt Brinjal, the genetically modified brinjal introduced in Bangladesh despite concerns and failures in performances, is imposed again for the third round with newer farmers during 2015 – 2016 winter crop season. No report has been published as research findings of the first two rounds of field cultivation except some propaganda news. The website (both Bengali and English page) of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) has no information. It only says Bt Begun (Bt Brinjal). That’s all. The page is just blank. Even International Service for the Acquisition for Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) did not publish any report after its Brief 47: The Status of Commercialized Bt Brinjal in Bangladesh, in 2014. There is nothing in 2015 which could have reported about...

‘Bagary Baingan’ on the menu of Modi: Was it Bt. Brinjal?

Farida Akhter Indian Prime Minister Norendra Modi’s eventful two-day visit ended on the 7th June, 2015 in Bangladesh. Mr. Prime Minister is a vegetarian and therefore as a host Bangladesh government, particularly Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself took special care to select different kinds of vegetarian foods. The Hindustan Times reported on 7 June, 2015 titled “100 veg dishes for Modi” including special daal, khichdi, dhokla and Bangladesh’s special sweets. In The NDTV news it was elaborated further, such as for starters, there was a Gujarati speciality - Kaman Dhokla, accompanied with a yoghurt corriander chutney. For main course there were the north Indian favourites like Paneer Butter Masala, Vegetable Shammi Kebabs and Dal Tadka. The menu also served some Bengali specia...