-The Business Standard   Millet is not only a rich source of nutrition but also mitigates climate change. It's time it was treated on a par with wheat and rice Dubbed by the health-savvy as nutri-grains, millet has been the victim of uncalled-for neglect. It has gradually been eased out of farmers' fields as well as from consumers' menu because of ill-advised procurement and price support policies. Even those who traditionally consumed millet,...

-The Tribune   Jind: There's a novel experiment underway in an acre-and-a-half at Jind's Nidana village. A group of farmers, most of them illiterate, are out to prove a point to scientists and experts: agriculture is possible without pesticides and more profitable than with the use of pesticides. Scientists of the Delhi-based National Centre for Integrated Pest Management New Delhi (NCIPM), with the help of the state Agriculture Department, have taken an acre-and-a-half...

-FAO FAO publishes first global study of forest genetic resources Rome - FAO today urged countries to improve data gathering and research to promote the conservation and sustainable management of the world's forest genetic resources, which are coming under increasing pressure. According to the first-ever edition of The State of the World's Forest Genetic Resources report, half of the forest species reported as regularly utilized by countries are threatened by the conversion of...

-The Telegraph   The European Union has banned the import of Indian mangoes as they failed to pass its stringent biosecurity regulations. Does India too need tougher biosecurity laws to protect its crops from Pests and diseases? When a few pesky fruit flies tried to migrate from India, they ended up sparking a debate on the effectiveness of India's agricultural biosecurity laws and regulations. While some agriculture experts believe the laws are...

-The United Nations   Urgent action to better manage the genetic diversity of forests - under pressure from climate change, exploitation and conversion for other uses - is needed to ensure that the benefits they provide will survive, the United Nations said in a first-of-its-kind report released today. "Forests provide food, goods and services which are essential to the survival and well-being of all humanity," Eduardo Rojas-Briales, Assistant Director-General for Forestry at...