From green revolution, Andhra Pradesh wants to move to pink revolution in agriculture, with women in the primary role. The project has started in a small way but hopes to turn 60 per cent of the cultivable area in the state over to organic farming. It will be implemented with the help of women’s self-help groups, which were in the limelight recently for highlighting the usury ways of micro-finance institutions. Already, over a...

Traversing 20 states of India the Yatra had a three point agenda: Food, Farmers, Freedom. On December 11, while the bulk of yatris were at Raj Ghat, their representatives went to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The list of demands they submitted provides a bird's eye view to the war that is now taking shape. Proponents of Kisan Swaraj want both the government and private sector to, among other things: 1. Stop treating...

The issues relating to the victims of endosulfan, sprayed in the plantations of Kasargod district in Kerala, have snowballed once again. “Earthworms emerged from the soil, and, subsequently, died. Then birds came to eat the earthworms and they died as well.”   “Some termites were killed in a cotton farm sprayed with endosulfan. A frog fed on the dead termites, and was immobilised a few minutes later. An owl which flew over...

The indiscriminate use of fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides over the years has led to deterioration of soil quality and crop productivity in India. According to a study conducted by the central soil water conservation research and training institute (CSWCRTI), Dehra Dun, about 1 millimetre of top soil is lost every year due to erosion. This leads to a total soil loss of 5,334 million tonnes annually, at an average rate...

There is a shortage of non-Bt seeds, and traditional seeds are contaminated Tests on cotton seeds available in the market show that they are contaminated Agriculture officials confirm the near absence of traditional variety of cotton seeds Karnataka may soon fall off the Organic cotton map owing to shortage of non-Bt cotton seeds and contamination of traditional seeds. As a result, a major Organic cotton belt such as H.D. Kote in Mysore district may...