Barcoding scientists aspire to adhere to the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity by promoting conservation, sustainability, and the equitable sharing of benefits arising from use of genetic resources. (Image: Juan Manuel Escalante, wwww.realitat.com)

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The review attempts to place the contributions of Ananta Kumar Giri, the editor of the three volumes, and the writers who contributed to the volumes in the debate on the relations between epistemology and ontology that has been going on in social sciences. sciences. The above-mentioned three volumes have been included in this review. Social science research in contemporary times is faced with several challengesepistemological, theory-research praxis, researcher-researched interrelations and research for policymaking. Epistemology deals with questions such as what is knowledge, what counts as knowledge, how knowledge claims are justified and nature of explanations, subject-object relations and fact-value relations. In other words, epistemology deals with theories of knowledge. Ontology is concerned with the existential conditions related to material, social, cultural and political contexts. Hence, the question of relations between epistemology and ontology assumes importance. In other words, relations between knowledge and the context of its production and relations between facts and values have become important issues. Contributions to the three volumes under review address some of the

Since its introduction in India, Bt ( Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton technology has been the object of controversial scholarly and non-academic debate. The recent return of pink bollworm ( Pectinophora gossypiella) pests in several Indian states has provided cause for concern about widespread resistances in Lepidopteran pests towards the endotoxins produced in Indian Bt cotton plants as well as about severe setbacks in regard to cotton farmers’ livelihood security. This study is the first to provide empirical evidence on the socio-economic consequences of recent bollworm attacks in India based on an exploratory study conducted in Karimnagar district, Telangana, India. It analyses the changed vulnerabilities that smallholders currently face and identifies the reasons why some peasant farmers can only deal with the consequences of this technological failure to a limited extent.

Genetically modified (GM) food is food produced from genetically modified seeds, or food that contains ingredients made from genetically modified plants, animals or microorganisms. Genetic modification of a food crop involves transfer of gene(s) from an organism belonging to one species of a taxonomic group to the food crop that belongs to a species of another taxonomic group. The source of the genes may be a plant species, animal species or a bacterium. Bt corn is an example of a genetically modified food crop in which a gene from a bacterium called Bacillus thureingensis (Bt) has been inserted. The logic underlying the gene transfer is that the foreign gene(s) inserted into the crop plant has/have some properties, for example, production of a toxin, that equip the plant to fight diseases and pest attacks (biotic stress). Alternatively the foreign gene(s) may have the property of enhancing yield, or improving tolerance against drought, or salinity (abiotic stress).