-ThePrint.in Mihir Shah, who headed the panel that drafted National Water Policy, says crop diversification, without endangering national food security, is important for resolving water crisis. New Delhi: The focus of public procurement on predominantly wheat and rice dates back to the early years of the Green Revolution, and this is what enabled India to build a large buffer stock of grain. However, there is no doubt that this overwhelming focus on just...

-United Nations Human Rights Office of The High Commissioner GENEVA 22 SEPTEMBER 2021: On the eve of the Food Systems Summit, UN human rights experts are deeply concerned that the event will not be a “people’s summit” as promised. They are worried that the Summit will instead leave behind the most marginalized and vulnerable people. According to the three human rights experts, who were involved in the Summit preparation, “The Summit claims...

-Down to Earth Sri Lanka has found itself in an economic crisis in pursuit of producing 100% organic food   ‘Lankan food crisis shows perils of organic farming’. This was the headline of a column by Indian economist Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar column published in a national daily recently. Aiyar’s article analysed the Sri Lankan food crisis, which has been triggered by the President’s recent decision to shift from chemical to organic farming. While the...

-TheWire.in Her writings are indispensable for anyone interested in learning about the history of agrarian change and labour in modern India. Professor Sheila Bhalla, professor emerita at the School of Social Sciences, JNU, a respected teacher, a labour economist of repute and a committed activist, passed away in Puducherry on September 5. Canadian by birth, she was introduced to trade union activities early in her life by her father. She studied at the...

-Civil Society News, Gurugram THROUGHOUT the first and second waves of the coronavirus pandemic, the extent of the tragedy in India was mostly unknown. How many people had really died? Were they men or women? Information was anecdotal and speculative. This April, there were queues at crematoriums and burial grounds, but even as bodies piled up there were no reliable figures to go by. We now have some figures based on data-hunting...