-Down to Earth A Kerala village grows organic pokkali rice after 25 years Harvest of pokkali rice in Kerala's Ezhupunna village, which began on October 27 and lasted three weeks, was nothing short of a local event. After all, the indigenous, saline and flood-resistant rice variety was cultivated in the village after 25 years. People in the village had to wage a long battle to be able to cultivate the crop once...

-The Hindu Appachi eco-logic cotton project is a unique organic cotton contract farm model in the Western Ghats region of Kabini Reservoir. The project covers nearly 1,200 farmers spread over 1,875 acres. Over 17 per cent of the area comes under reserve forests of both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and exposing the cultivation fields to wild animal attacks is forcing farmers to start cotton cultivation on a mono cropping basis instead of...

-IPS   Food security activists who secured a moratorium on introducing genetically modified brinjal (aubergine) into India fear that their efforts are being undermined by the release of GM brinjal in neighbouring Bangladesh. "India and Bangladesh share a long and porous border and it is easy for GM brinjal varieties to be brought over," says Suman Sahai, director of Gene Campaign, a Delhi-based research and advocacy group devoted to the conservation of...

-The Indian Express Government must step up private sector involvement in agricultural research. Why Bharat Ratna awardee C.N.R. Rao called the acts of politicians "idiotic" is for him to elaborate. Perhaps he was referring to those advocating a ban on GM research in India. After all, Rao has vehemently urged a five-fold increase in funding for research and development in agriculture. That includes research on GM crops. On the food front, we have...

-The Hindu Reckless use of pesticides led to high incidence of diseases, say farmers KADALANGUDI (NAGAPATTINAM, Tamil Nadu): Yellow blades of paddy grass bereft of tillers glisten against the scorching noon sun. For the farmers of Vada Kadalangudi in Orkudi panchayat, the 80-100 day pesticide-infested paddy crop will not make up even for good fodder. Vast stretches of directly-sowed fields of Keezhvelur block here, lie wilted under mealy bug attack. The story stretches across...