-The Pioneer From the right farming techniques to efficient and not wasteful use of water for irrigation purposes, new and modern agricultural methods can help optimise production and save the environment from degradation At a time when a burgeoning population is putting immense stress on available resources, foodgrains production as a critical and life supporting resource is exceedingly finding itself on the back foot, thanks to a rapidly degrading environment. The state...

-The United Nations The United Nations agricultural agency today launched a new database which gathers under one roof previously scattered information about land cover - how much land is covered by croplands, trees, forests, or bare soils - crucial to establishing a good global understanding of the physical characteristics of the Earth's surface. "A strong understanding of our planet's land cover is essential to promoting sustainable land resources management - including agricultural...

-Outlook As subsidies for the poor continue to be under attack, a ground-up report from 10-states shows how well welfare schemes have worked over the last 10 years. Ahead of Elections 2014, rights-based welfare schemes are under attack. To those who argue ‘Dolenomics' doesn't work, a survey of five schemes in 10 states shows that the Rs 1,68,478 crore annually the nation spends is making a real and tangible difference on...

-The Business Standard To get priority under CSR, new policy envisages major role for private sector The government has decided to accord agro forestry equal status with agriculture by setting up a national-level board to promote national agro forestry policy. Besides agro forestry is proposed to be treated as priority area under Corporate Social Responsibility programmes (CSR) and thus the policy envisages a major role for the private sector. To this effect a...

-The Hindu     Even a cursory look at how Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have fared will tell us how the mere formation of a smaller State is no guarantee for better lives for those groups for whom these States have been created Smaller States have been the new political mode of addressing basic issues that were otherwise left unresolved. However, fighting for a new state and reconstructing on a more sustainable democratic content...