Stung by last year’s worst drought in decade that trimmed foodgrain production by more than 15 million tonne, the agriculture ministry asked all its top bureaucrats to visit different states and spend more time in the field this year to ensure timely supply of inputs to farmers and prevent a repetition of last year if monsoon become uncertain. The move is also meant to effectively monitor the sowing process and...

This is a story of a bunch of gritty women in a small Andhra village who used their traditional resources and knowledge to fight poverty and create a source of livelihoods for others. A group of 34 women, most of them illiterate, at village Pyalayaram, which falls in Deccan region of Zaheerabad mandal in the state of Andhra Pradesh.decided to set up a community grain bank with a little help...

The right to food has gained significant recognition in Africa, Asia, Latin America and South Asia, but more national institutional reforms are needed to ensure that the fight against hunger is rooted in legal mechanisms, a United Nations expert has said. “Boosting food production should not be confused with realizing the human right to food,” said Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food. “If the international...

As the policies on better water management work themselves out and the larger sums of monies the UPA government is spending on them have an effect, technology is the major source of growth in Indian agriculture. Improved Seeds matter. While the earlier seed suppliers in agricultural universities and seed corporations reorganise themselves with the support of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, private and public private partnerships (PPP) are flourishing. Bt...

New Delhi has done well to declare its intention to play a proactive role at the forthcoming Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at Nagoya (Japan) in October for thrashing out a legally binding pact on access to and benefit-sharing of biological resources. Being one of the world’s 12 mega biodiversity centres, India has substantial stakes in both preserving the biodiversity and capitalising on its commercial potential. Though the CBD, signed...