Laying The Seeds

Forget tennis and chess, the state now boasts its own ‘Genome Clubs’. The brainchild of Dr M.S. Swaminathan, the genome clubs will spread basic genetic literacy across four agro biodiversity hotspots—initially, the states of AP, Orissa, TN and Kerala. Membership is open to students and panchayat members, valuable allies in the scientists’ fight to introduce genetically modified crops that the environmentalists fiercely oppose. The genome clubs will also educate villagers about their legal rights. The clubs will work in tandem with the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation’s virtual university, to be launched in August in three Tamil Nadu districts to keep farmers informed via computers about issues like water tables, weather and crop patterns, biodiversity and energy usage.