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April 1998: Monsanto-Mahyco tie up. Monsanto given permission for small trials of Bt cotton 100 g per trial by Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
July 13,1998: LOI by DBT wihtout involving GEAC, 15th MAHYCO agrees to LOI.
July 27, 1998: Impunged permission by DBT for trials at 15 locations, in August another 15 locations approved
November 16, 1998: news broke of trials being carried out by Monsanto on Bt-cotton without permission of regional governments and without consent of local communities.
November 28, 1998: Thousands of farmers occupied and burned down Bt cotton trial fields in Karnataka as part of Operation Cremation Monsanto.
December 2, 1998: about 200 farmers of Andhra Pradesh have set fire to the experimental field of the "Bollgard" cotton crop raised by Monsanto in Urugonda village of Warangal district. The Andhra Pradesh government has asked the Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (I) Private Limited to stop forthwith the field trials of Bollgard gene seeds of cotton going on in seven districts in the State.
December 16, 1998: The "Monsanto, Quit India" Campaign by various groups. Monsanto has sued the Andhra Pradesh Rytha Sangha (Federation of all the Farmers Organisations of Andhra Pradesh) through its President Shri Malla Reddy
January 6, 1999: Vandana Shiva's Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology goes to the Supreme Court challenging the "illegality" of the field trials authorized by the DBT.
January 8, 1999: RCGM expresses satisfaction over the trial results at 40 locations and on April 12th directs MAHYCO to submit applications for trials at 10 locations before MEC.
May 25, 1999: Revised proposal top RCGM submitted to Mahyco
June – November, 1999: Permission granted for different field trials. Oct- Nov. Shiva’s group undertakes field visits.
May 2000: Mahyco writes to GEAC seeking approval for ‘release for large scale commercial field trials and hybrid seed production of indigenously developed Bt cotton hybrids’.
July 2000: GEAC clears for large scale field trials on 85 hectares and seed production on 150 hecatares. Mahyco allowed to conduct large-scale field trials including seed production at 40 sites in six states. The permission was granted based on the "totally confidential" data from the small trials that allowed regulators to infer that Bt Cotton was "safe." The DBT sets up Committee to "independently" monitor evaluate large scale field trials.
October 2000: RFSTE files application to ammend petition challenging fresh clearance.Geeta Bharathan writes in Current Science on the controversy that evokes responses from scientists and Mahyco in subsequent issues.
Jan 5, 2001: A 10-member delegation comprising U.S. judges and scientists meet Supreme Court Chief Justice A.S. Anand to educate him -- and other members of the judiciary -- on biotechnology.
June 18, 2001: An open dialogue held between Monsanto and Greenpeace to discuss Bt cotton with scientists, Ministry of Environment representatives and farmers. No data on field trials was presented, though farmers vociferously demanded Bt cotton be commercialized. Technical questions and concerns raised by Greenpeace remain unanswered.
June 2001: PAN AP and others took urgent action at the request of activists both within India and abroad in protesting Mahyco/ Monsanto's aggressive attempt to fast-track governmental approval for Bt cotton commercialisation. “. Some 300 emails were received from all over the world by the Indian government.
June 19, 2001: Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) extends field trials of Bt Cotton by another year. Mahyco conducts large-scale trials on 100 hectares in seven states.
October 2001: Mahyco discovers commercial Bt cotton farming over several thousand hectares in Gujarat. Source of the cotton is traced back to Navbharat Seeds Pvt Ltd.
October 2001: GEAC orders Bt cotton fields to be burnt in Gujarat. No action taken after farmers’ protest order.
November 20, 2001: Gene Campaign files a case in the Delhi High Court charging the Government with negligence in allowing large-scale field trials to be conducted without appropriate monitoring, regulation and safety precautions.
December 12, 2001: Sharma writes an open letter to PM. warning of the potentially devastating impact GE cotton seeds could have on farmers in India and the scientific fraud involved in the way the research trials have been conducted and monitored. "the biggest scientific scam" to have ever hit India.
January 23, 2002: Dr Manju Sharma, secretary of DBT, declares that the latest round of Bt cotton trials were satisfactory and that it is up to the GEAC and the Ministry of Environment to decide on a date of commercial release.
February 20, 2002: The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) submits a positive report to the Ministry of Environment on the field trials of Bt cotton. It is now expected that the Genetic Engineering and Approval Committee (GEAC) of the environment ministry will approve commerical use of Bt cotton within a month.
March 25, 2002: Approval given to Bt Cotton by GEAC
May 2002: Piyush Patel of Navbharat seeds finally arrested.Monsanto ready to release another Bt-gene Cry 2x also known as Cry 2 Ab for pest resistance in cotton. Expects clearance in India in 3 years.Rasi Seeds gets nod to conduct Bt cotton trials.
June 2002: Chinese environmental protection agency – Greenpeace report showing fall in diversity index in Bt cotton fields, other pests increasedSeveral groups in India ask for ban on Bt cotton as a result through press release in Bangalore
August 8, 2002: Suman Sahai of gene campaign Demands Release of Bt Cotton Data
August 9, 2002: Government Bans Sale of Bt Cotton Seeds Temporarily
August 24, 2002: First reports from Khargone of 100 % failure of Bt crops (Shah and Banerjee)
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