Farmers in Maharashtra revive 120 varieties of local crops   Dark brown seeds pointed at both ends resemble the kind of wild seeds growing just anywhere that children would collect to play with. Only, this seed is one of the rare and nutritious foods losing out to the rush for market food. To the Mahadeo Koli and Thakar tribals in the rain-shadow areas of Sahyadri hills, this millet is known as batu...

Government sat on grain stocks while food prices shot up   In july 2008, when inflation rose to a 10-year high of 11 per cent and industry was hit by a range of factors, including economic recession, the Union government responded immediately. There were day-on-day monetary interventions. Since July 2009, inflation, as calculated by the prices poor consumers pay for their daily needs, has hovered around 11 per cent, again a 10-year...

Bt brinjal is a genetically modified version of an eggplant that is injected with a protein that makes it immune to pests Kochi: There’s a new player in the fight against Bt brinjal, a village panchayat in Kerala that is seeking to preserve a traditional variety of eggplant. As part of the plans of the village-level elected legislative body, around 8,000 households in the Mararikulam North gram panchayat in the coastal...

India achieved the distinction of being the second fastest growing economy amid the global recession in 2009, but the joy was marred by the decade’s sharpest rise in food prices to the chagrin of common man. For a country that continued to lose on its exports throughout the year that has gone by, economy achieved a remarkable growth of about 7% (during April- September 2009) on the back of focused government...

DINDIGUL: People visiting the farmers market at NGO Colony near here will soon get an opportunity to buy traditional rural food items and homemade products besides vegetables. It would become a single point shopping centre for consumers, said Collector M. Vallalar. He was presiding over a function that marked the concluding day of 10th anniversary of the farmers’ market at NGO Colony here on Wednesday. Selling all items including groceries, masala items...