-The Business Standard In the 90s, Mark Lynas was a most vocal critic of genetically modified (GM) technology. An author of books such as High Tide, Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet and The God Species, he shocked the world when he later said he was wrong in opposing GM technology. In a lecture at the Oxford Farming Conference earlier this month, he apologised for vandalising field trials of...

-The Hindu While there is reason to be proud of the progress in the production of wheat, rice, cereals and millets, the use of farmland for non-farm purposes is a cause for concern The year 2013 marks the 70th anniversary of the Bengal Famine which resulted in the death of an estimated 1.5 to 3 million children, women and men during 1942-43. A constellation of factors led to this mega-tragedy, such as...

-The Guardian By shunning all but organic farming techniques, the Himalayan state will cement its status as a paradigm of sustainability Bhutan plans to become the first country in the world to turn its agriculture completely organic, banning the sales of pesticides and herbicides and relying on its own animals and farm waste for fertilisers. But rather than accept that this will mean farmers of the small Himalayan kingdom of 1.2 million people...

-The Hindu All districts, except Chennai, declared drought-hit; work days under MGNREGS increased to 150 Chennai: Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced in the Assembly on Friday that all districts in the State other than Chennai would be declared drought-hit and unveiled a host of relief measures that would cost about Rs. 2,143.60 crore, focussing on the crisis-ridden Cauvery delta. Ms. Jayalalithaa said the number of days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural...

-The Guardian Don't believe the hype: GM is in the grip of a few firms that profit from selling the chemicals they engineer their seeds to resist Thirty years ago, genetic engineers hoped new technology would revolutionise world farming and reduce or even eliminate the need for fertilisers and pesticides. It was a noble idea that deserved success. But only promises came. In the 1990s the public was told genetic modification would...