-Down to Earth The ill-effects of imbalanced application of fertilisers — which leads to soil sickness, decline in soil health and reduces crop productivity — need to be understood to save Indian agriculture. Soil is rightfully called the ‘soul of infinite life’. This soul, however, has become dilapidated of late due to ill-agricultural practices being adapted to feed the ever-increasing mouths. The Green Revolution of 1965-66 helped India, for the first time...
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Tried, Tested, Failed: Why Farmers are Against Contract Farming -Shinzani Jain
-Newsclick.in Farmers fear they will have to engage with big traders and agribusinesses on an unequal playing field where these giant corporations will be dictating the terms of engagement. Approved by the government of India in 1988, the Pepsi project was launched to initiate a second agricultural revolution in Punjab. The effects of the first agricultural revolution had faded. Yields of major crops were low. A joint venture among PepsiCo, Voltas and...
More »6,600 Farmers Die of Pesticide Poisoning Every Year in India: Study
-Newsclick.in The global study, published by BMC Public Health, revealed that about 44% of the worldwide farming population (total 860 million) are poisoned by Pesticides every year. In a comprehensive study published on Monday, December 8, scientists estimated that about 385 million people, particularly among farmers and agriculture workers, are poisoned by Pesticides every year including 11,000 deaths per year. Among the fatalities, nearly 60% or 6,600 deaths per year occur in...
More »Neither govt nor protesting farmers recognise challenge of depleting natural resources and climate crisis -Richa Kumar, Nikhit Kumar Agrawal, PS Vijayshankar and AR Vasavi
-The Indian Express If we truly want to ensure the livelihoods of our farmers and provide safe, healthy, nutritious food for our consumers, it is imperative to make policies that go beyond the productivity trope and populist posturing. Proponents of the three new farm laws have claimed that they will engender competition in agricultural markets and will give farmers a choice to sell wherever they like. The opponents of these laws, including...
More »Condemning the new farm laws, Vikalp Sangam urges the government to help the country move towards a more sustainable, regenerative and diverse agricultural system
-Press release by Vikalp Sangam (vikalpsangam.org), dated 5th December, 2020 Vikalp Sangam (vikalpsangam.org) -- a conglomeration of 60+ active CSOs and members -- in its press release dated 5th December, 2020 has stated that the newly enacted farm laws of the Centre will lead to further land alienation (landlessness) and destitution of the peasantry because the laws permit, in thinly disguised form, the unsparing loot by the lobby of agri-businesses and...
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