Small-scale farmers can double food production in a decade by using simple ecological methods, according to the findings of a new United Nations study released today, which calls for a fundamental shift towards agroecology as a poverty alleviation measure. “To feed 9 billion people in 2050, we urgently need to adopt the most efficient farming techniques available,” says Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food and...

Why is every fourth Indian hungry? Why is every third woman in India anaemic and malnourished? Why is every second child underweight and stunted? Why has the hunger and malnutrition crisis deepened even as India has nine per cent growth? Why is “Shining India” a “Starving India”? In my view, hunger is a structural part of the design of the industrialised, globalised food system. Hunger is an intrinsic part of the...

Climate change is a serious global issue of great concern to different countries. So said Dr Manjit Singh Kang, PAU vice-chancellor, on the opening day of a three-day international conference on 'Preparing Agriculture for Climate Change' at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) on Sunday. 'Green revolution is a path-breaking movement and Punjab has spearheaded it for over four decades,' said Punjab Agricultural Marketing Board chairman Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, the chief guest. Kang, who...

So why is the UPA hell-bent on killing its unique success story: the NREGA? Here's the inside narrative of the conspiracy. It took 47 days of a protest sit-in at Jaipur to make the state budge(1). It's notable that the objective of this protracted protest was not to coerce the Rajasthan government for an extra share of the state's resources, but to hold the government accountable to the Constitution and its...

The government has approved Rs 350 crore scheme to study impact of climate change on agriculture and reduce production losses. Approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, the main objective of new plan scheme ‘National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture’ is to assess impact of climate change on agriculture and allied sectors in the country and evolve cost-effective adaptation and mitigation strategies. The scheme will be implemented in the remaining part...