Chandrasekhar Sahu, agriculture minister of Chhattisgarh, is passionate about making farming a viable proposition for farmers. He has written several books on the subject and is a frequent contributor to environmental journals. Talking to Jyotika Sood, he says the challenges in a state where 80 per cent of the population depends on agriculture are tremendous. He plans a separate agriculture budget and wants organic farming to be a cornerstone of...

Directs Centre to submit detailed report on project cost and land acquisition The ambitious river linking project, connecting rivers of peninsular India with  Himalayan rivers through canals, has hit a roadblock after the Supreme Court's observation that the project would burden the Union government because of escalating costs. While environmentalists and activists have welcomed the order seeking detailed report on the project's cost, the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has commenced...

-The Assam Tribune   Finding the going uphill in their bid to sell their produce for good economic returns, raw jute farmers from different parts of South Kamrup area are facing acute crisis. Too poor to afford the input costs, the marginal farmers who practice the cultivation on a massive scale in thousands of bighas of land here at Jiakur 1 Bortari, Kandalpara Cimina, Futuri Goroimari Alikash under Palashbari and Chhaygaon LAC...

Pawar announces mega plans for mechanisation in 12th Plan Faced with farm labour shortage following the introduction of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday announced mega plans for mechanisation in the 12th Five-Year Plan. “With the successful implementation of the MGNREGS and other anti-poverty programmes, there is now pressure on the availability of farm labour,” Mr. Pawar told senior journalists at the Economic...

The year 2010 endured 950 natural disasters, 90 percent of which were weather-related and cost the global community well over 130 billion dollars. From wildfires in Brazil to record rainfall in the United States to the severe drought and famine in the Horn of Africa, it has become clear to many that quick and radical decisions need to be made about the world's future.  One of the biggest advocates of this position...