-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...

As the challenge of global warming looms large, the importance of climate resilient agriculture (CRA) gets recognized by both scientific and farming communities. Countries like India are expected to be intensely affected by climate change since majority of the population is primarily dependent on agriculture for livelihood. CRA, encompassing adaptation and mitigation strategies and the effective use of biodiversity at all levels-genes, species and ecosystems-should, therefore, be India's response towards...

A new report by National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) reveals that despite the nutritional value of millets, otherwise known as coarse cereals*, there has been a drastic reduction in the area under its cultivation from 36.34 million hectares in 1955-56 to 18.6 million hectares in 2011-12 thanks to the wrong agricultural and price policies adopted by the Government (see table 1, and the links below). Based on previous National...

-The Hindu Business Line The South Asian population has been growing at the rate of 1.5 per cent per annum, and agricultural production at 2.5 per cent per annum has been keeping pace with the demographic trends, thereby creating the necessary provision for food. Yet, the inherent problems of distribution have loomed large for South Asia. India's National Food Security Act, 2013, emphasises defining certain target groups and highlights the importance...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In what appears to be another grim outcome of climate change, a study has found that forests in eastern Himalayas are gradually 'browning', with trees withering and foliage declining even during productive seasons. Similar changes were noted in tropical mountain forests across the world. Among the 47 protected areas across five biodiversity hotspots selected for the study, were Kangchendzonga national park in Sikkim and Namdapha national...