Farmers in Madhya Pradesh have demanded a subsidy for practising eco-friendly measures to tackle India's soil degradation crisis, environmental group Greenpeace India said Saturday. The farmers held a public hearing in this Madhya Pradesh town to review the major soil health management support systems of the central government and its capability to solve the soil degradation crisis. Several agriculture experts, government officials, politicians and representatives of civil society attended the hearing held...

It favours companies voluntarily labelling products as not containing GMOs Monsanto not looking beyond Bt corn Controls on seed pricing opposed Monsanto, the biotechnology major, holds the view that mandatory labelling of products made from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in India would make no sense. It favours options such as companies voluntarily labelling products as not containing GMOs, and individuals making a personal decision not to consume food containing GM ingredients. During an interview...

At least 5000 farmers of the district's Sadar block will not get insurance claims of their crops that got damaged in drought last year due to wrong assessment report of the officials. A four-member block-level team comprising block agriculture officer, junior statistics supervisor, block cooperative officer and circle inspector had submitted its report after field assessment in four selected areas, which included four large multi-purpose cooperative society (LAMPS) plots in Lohardaga,...

The subsidy-driven development model of Punjab is one of the reasons why state is the worst performer in the country on economic equality front measured through Gini co-efficient. Not only this, revenue collection is the lowest in the country at 6.86% as against a national average of 10-12%. Subsidy is going to only the rich with peasants being pushed out of agriculture. It has come to focus as its reduction is...

The Communist Party of India (CPI) state secretary, Dr K. Narayana, has demanded that the government impose ban on micro finance companies (MFCs) to prevent escalation of suicides in villages. Speaking to reporters here on Friday, he alleged that the government-created poverty has been forcing the farmers and various sections of the society to end their lives and the toll will rise if the MFCs are allowed to continue. He alleged...