-The Hindu When Sreenivasan took up farming, the thumb rule was that pesticides would not be used Kochi: As we go about farming the fields using fertilisers and pesticides, who’s tending the dense and diverse vegetation in forests — which have more fruit-bearing trees and edible roots? The question by Subhash Palekar, noted propounder of zero-budget farming, got actor Sreenivasan thinking about modern farming practices. “Everything that’s there to nurture vegetables and fruits...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: India's food safety regulator has slashed the maximum allowed limit of transfats in cooking oil and fat by half to five per cent in a move that experts are calling an important step to safeguard public health. But nutrition scientists have cautioned that the government will also need to tweak oilseed crop policies to draw the food processing industry and consumers away from unhealthy but inexpensive transfats to...

-Deccan Herald Organic food in India has slowly made its way into more households over the last decade. More and more people are embracing the concept of safe food, having realised the benefits that come along with it. So, with the demand seeing a steady rise, how does the supply scene fare comparatively? Well, in keeping with the changing times and needs of consumers, farming too is seeing a shift towards...

-TheHansIndia.com Sangareddy: System of Rice Intensification (SRI), a new way of cultivating rice has gained prominence among the farmers of Mulugu and neighbouring villages in Medak district. The new form of cultivation is not just cost-effective, but also yields more than traditional form of rice cultivation. With the new method, it takes only 2 kg of seeds to sow an acre whereas in traditional method it takes 30 kg In SRI method,...

-The Hindu Despite growing clamour for pesticide-free produce, doubts persist about the capability of organic farming to generate high yields Kerala: Organic farming began finding momentum in Kerala since the unveiling of a policy in 2010 that set the goal of converting the entire agricultural production in the State to organic within 10 years. That policy announced by the then Left Democratic Front government is now being fast-tracked by the present United...