Indian farmers have much to celebrate this year with a bumper wheat harvest. As predicted by the ministry of agriculture, wheat farmers have begun to harvest what is shaping up to be a record crop, projected at 84.27 million tonnes. We are growing more wheat than ever before. The earlier record of 80.8 million tonnes of wheat production was achieved in 2009-10. Estimates show that foodgrain production including wheat, rice, pulses...
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Fudging parameter to reduce number of poor by Nitin Sethi
How does the government manage to keep the poverty line so low? Rather simple for the statisticians — they simply bring down the key parameter — amount of food one should have to stay alive. Earlier, the Planning Commission stipulated 2,100kilo calories per day per person in the cities and 2,400 kcalories per day per person was the minimum required to survive. Now consuming 1,800 kcalories per day is enough,...
More »Lethal mix R Ramachandran
It is the improper mode of application, violating the law and regulations, that is responsible for the apparent adverse toxic effects of endosulfan. FROM a scientific perspective, an extremely pertinent question in the endosulfan story is why adverse health effects similar to those seen in the villages of Kasaragod district in Kerala have not been reported from other parts of the country where the pesticide is used in much larger...
More »Over 90,000 tonnes seed certified
-The Hindu The Department of Organic and Seed Certification has certified 93,552 tonnes seed from the paddy, millets, pulses, cotton, oil seeds and vegetable varieties. The purpose behind certifying the seeds was to convey to the farmers that they could be assured of the purity of the seeds, the department said in a press release. The purity of the seeds had been maintained and that they were of good quality. The Seed...
More »AID POLICY: Getting the recipe right for US food aid
-Irin Changing the food the US government supplies as aid could deliver better results and still save money, a new study says. The review for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) by researchers at the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy has been welcomed by NGOs and US food aid experts, but the findings have also come in for some criticism. The two-year review considered if USAID...
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