Biotechnology can provide effective solutions to the rising food security problems of the country on the back of rising population and inflation concerns. “With rising population, depleting land and water resources, and a rapid increase in food prices in India, the application of innovation and crop biotechnologies will be critical in enhancing agricultural yields along with achievement of food security for the nation,” G Padmanaban, NASI-Platinum Jubilee Chair of Indian Institute...

-ToI   The government patched together an intricate—and flawed—fertiliser system over the last 40 years. It now wants to dismantle that monster. The challenge before it is to preserve its pro-agriculture and pro-poor objective, while correcting the flaws that crept in, reports M Rajshekhar If it all goes to plan, buying or selling fertiliser will never be the same for the 120-odd companies that make up this Rs 1,00,000 crore industry or...

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has stepped in to stop the rotting of grain. Just hours after CNN-IBN reported a record harvest of grain rotting because of lack of storage facilities Reddy has appointed a team of 10 IAS officers to supervise paddy procurement and has issued instructions to minimise wastage by ensuring a supply of gunny bags to warehouses. He has also reportedly asked officials to look into...

50 lakh tonnes of rice and wheat for all States/Union Territories at BPL prices Need to strike a balance between excess procurement and storage: Justice Bhandari ‘Whatever you procure, store it properly. The rest you can distribute to starving people' Responding to the concern expressed by the Supreme Court over malnutrition and starvation deaths, the Centre on Tuesday informed it of the decision to make an additional allocation of 50 lakh tonnes of...

The upsurge in the use of the toxic pesticide endosulfan, targeted for prohibition by the international community, illustrates one of the dilemmas of intensive agriculture in Argentina and Latin America in general. "There is always a natural solution," insists farmer Alicia Alem, a member of an Argentine cooperative that produces cereal and forage crops without chemical fertilisers or pesticides. "In terms of wheat, for example, the cooperative gets exactly the same yield...