-Livemint.com The production of ‘mahua’ is finally entering the formal economy as new initiatives seek to upscale this indigenous drink, selling it across the country and even the globe It is a cloudy morning in Nangur village in Bastar district, Chattisgarh. It is a settlement of a little over 400 families, considered fairly large in these parts. We make a bumpy journey down a narrow, unpaved road intermittently shaded by sargi (sal)...

-The Hindu Business Line Also moots farming of GM species in closed systems Kochi: A draft national policy on mariCulture has mooted mariCulture zones by demarcating special areas in the sea for activities such as cage farming, bivalve farming, pen Culture, seaweed Culture, hatcheries and nurseries based on scientific criteria. The draft policy was formulated by an expert committee formed by the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) with A Gopalakrishnan, Director of Central...

-The Telegraph With an overload of cane price arrears, V Kumara Swamy warns of a looming crisis for farmers Until a few years ago, you could tell the seasons in western Uttar Pradesh when you drove down its highways just by looking at the standing crops. In winter, one would see an unending landscape of swaying wheat and mustard, during summer it would be all sugarcane and paddy. These days, almost through the...

-Down to Earth Shailaja Fennell, an expert in gender and household dynamics in agriCulture, talks to Down To Earth about millet production in India As India witnesses the central government launch a campaign to promote nutri cereals, Down To Earth talks to an expert about the relevance of millets, its cultural significance and its benefits for women. Shailaja Fennell, university senior lecturer in development studies at the department of land economy in...

-Down to Earth Throughout ages, many rituals have been associated with millet cultivation and women are to be thanked for this As millets make a comeback to our fields and plates, the formal launch of an extensive campaign beginning from Pune to promote these nutri cereals assumes great significance. According to B Dayakar Rao, principal scientist at the Indian Institute of Millets Research, "The Pune event is basically an extension of the National Millet...