Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug, father of the ‘Green Revolution,’ who developed high-yielding and disease-resistant wheat that nearly doubled India's wheat output and prevented famine in the developing world has died. 95-year-old Borlaug died yesterday from cancer complications in Dallas, Texas, a spokeswoman for Texas A&M University said. A 1970 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his contributions to world peace through increasing food supply, Borlaug was a...

India has recently witnessed the release of two important environment reports just before the Copenhagen Summit to be held in December, 2009. The National State of the Environment India (SoE) Report 2009 was launched on 11 August, 2009 by Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh. Another report titled United Nation’s World Economic and Social Survey (WESS) Report 2009 was released in early September, 2009 by Sunita Narain, Director, Centre...

Food security in India is getting more and more dependent on annual monsoons. In a year of low rainfall, a large section of the people, especially those below the poverty line, have to depend on subsidised government food rations. If this situation continues, the country will be stressed for resources to provide food for the people. Coping with water shortage from failed monsoons is somewhat similar to coping with an...

The time has come for a comprehensive right-to-food law to tackle the deprivation and food insecurity that haunts India.  Over the last decade or so, a series of developments have drawn attention to the problem of food security. These are the persistence of hunger in many parts of the country being juxtaposed with food surpluses and stocks; the adverse impact of globalisation on agriculture and rising food prices resulting in...

They contest Planning Commission’s poverty estimates  Food Bill exercise calls for detailed discussion and exclusive meeting: States Transfer of food subsidy in cash to BPL families won’t serve the purpose: Maharashtra The Centre has asked the States to put a cap on the number of Below Poverty Line (BPL) beneficiaries under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) for purposes of theproposed National Food security Bill. It also wants the BPL...