-The Telegraph The Mamata Banerjee government today took “baby steps” in easing its seemingly inflexible stand on land. It has allowed more industries to hold land in excess of the ceiling with prior approval. Also, in the clause that allows government-owned companies to lease out land for townships, prior approval is not mentioned. The amendments to the land and land reforms act do not hold any big surprises but by passing them today,...

World Water Day is held annually on March 22 to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and advocate sustainable management of freshwater resources. Each year, the day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater and this year's campaign was on “Water and Food Security.” A large quantity of water, more than most people think, is used for producing the food we eat everyday. Water is a renewable and finite resource...

Weather events such as extreme temperatures and drought caused global agricultural losses of 11.4 billion dollars in 2011, while 12 million hectares of farmland are lost to land degradation every year, and unsustainable agricultural practices contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases. These and other data provided by a report released Wednesday in London by leading scientists from 13 countries raise the question of how to curb the environmental crisis, guarantee...

-The Business Standard   Learning from the jatropha mistake The tropical shrub jatropha curcas, touted a decade ago as a commercially feasible source of biofuel to alleviate the global energy crisis, seems to have let its proponents down quite comprehensively. Millions of hectares of land in the arid areas of India and in many other Asian and African countries were turned into jatropha plantations in the expectation that the oil derived from its...

-IANS The World Bank has approved a $109 million funding for the Rajasthan Agricultural Competitiveness Project in India to enhance agricultural productivity through sustainable and efficient use of water resources. The project is expected to increase agricultural productivity and farmer incomes through efficient water management, crop management, improved agricultural technology, farmer organizations and market innovations in some 20 selected areas in Rajasthan. The initiative will benefit some 155,000 smallholder farmers, the Washington-based World...