-Mumbai Mirror A behind the scenes look at what’s driving the region’s return to traditional paddy techniques. It’s certainly not the global shift towards organic cultivation. A recent study conducted by Harvard University has established that consuming just one cup of white rice (polished rice) a day can put you at risk of diabetes, regardless of your nationality or whether you have a family history of the disease. Bhairav Saini lives in...

-The Hindu The headline in a recent PTI report “Saving 2 tigers gives more value than Mangalyaan”’ was intriguing, since it said that saving two tigers yields a capital benefit of Rs. 520 crores, while Mangalyaan cost us Rs. 450 crores. The headline was both exciting and hurtful. Excited by it, I contacted Professor Madhu Verma of the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal, and she shared with me both...

-The Hindu Climate change and anthropogenic factors are having a detrimental effect on the Cauvery delta region, a study spanning almost four decades reveals The Cauvery delta region, widely regarded as the granary of Tamil Nadu, has shrunk, with cultivable lands increasingly deteriorating into waste lands — this is the finding of a recently concluded study undertaken by retired professor of the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) S. Janakarajan. Funded by the...

-The Hindu Business Line Varied production costs, low-grade produce, limited surplus are key factors Farmers across many States, including Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, are up in arms demanding implementation of the National Commission on Farmers report, which suggested fixing the minimum support price (MSP) for crops 50 per cent above the cost of production. But the MSP of many crops already has a built-in profit margin of 40-50 per cent. So, what is...

-The Hindu The plant species is known for its nutritional value Hyderabad: Stylosanthes hamata, a perennial leguminous plant commonly known as Caribbean Stylo, could play a vital role in feeding lakhs of sheep to be distributed among people of certain castes by the Telangana government. The fact, however, that the plants would be grown on thousands of hectares of forest land is inviting criticism from environmental and wildlife activists. While it has been the...