It was the end of a long, tiring and humid day. Sitting near the bamboo gate of his 'precious' betel vineyard, 70-year-old Narayan Mandal said despondently, "I don't want to migrate, once again." Mandal, a resident of Gobindpur village in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district, is one of the many opposing the state government's ambitious $12 billion Posco steel project. For the last six years, three gram panchayats - Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gada...

High and volatile agricultural commodity prices are likely to prevail for the rest of this year and into 2012 according to the latest analysis published today in FAO's biannual Food Outlook. The report cites a sharp rundown on inventories and only modest overall production increases for the majority of crops as reasons for continuing strong prices. The next few months will be critical in determining how the major crops will fare this...

The dun wheat field spreading out at Ravi P. Singh's feet offered a possible clue to human destiny. Baked by a desert sun and deliberately starved of water, the plants were parched and nearly dead. Dr. Singh, a wheat breeder, grabbed seed heads that should have been plump with the staff of life. His practiced fingers found empty husks. “You're not going to feed the people with that,” he said. But then, over...

Public sector Hindustan Insecticides charged with polluting environment Repeated demands to shift hazardous wastes to common treatment facility ignored Pesticide residues leaching into neighbourhood The Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) on Tuesday ordered Hindustan Insecticides Limited, Kochi, manufacturing endosulfan, to close down its operations on charges of environmental pollution. The public sector company has been asked to close down “all operations and process in the industry with immediate effect.” However, it will...

The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices may recommend higher prices in its report. The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) may recommend higher minimum support price (MSP) for cotton and sunflower in its report. “Cost of production for most crops have gone up by 10-30 per cent over the last year, due to higher inputs costs like labour and fodder. Cotton has fetched higher market prices compared to its MSP...