-OrissaDiary.com Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh has maximum 25 lakh 82 thousand hectares under organic farming in the country. This is about half of total organic farming area in India. This was informed at a meeting of Agriculture Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan here today. At the meeting, a presentation was given on 3 subjects including arrangement of fertilisers, organic farming and paddy procurement. Chief Minister Shri Chouhan directed for...

-The Hindu Business Line New Delhi: Following up on its October investigation of data irregularities in the National Project on Organic Farming (NPOF), the Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI) stated on Tuesday that it had found pesticide residues in one-third of the organic products retailed in New Delhi that are marketed as chemical pesticide-free. The owner of a retail store mentioned in the response by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI),...

Far from being dead and gone, slavery exists in many forms and is flourishing. A disturbing report on modern slavery compiles facts and figures and documents data about new forms of slavery all over the world. Even more disturbing is the fact that India figures in very high on slavery index. It says that almost 61% of those living in modern slavery are in 5 countries: India, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan...

-Economic and Political Weekly   The runaway growth in states of subsidised solar pumps, which provide quality energy at near-zero marginal cost, can pose a bigger threat of groundwater over-exploitation than free power has done so far. The best way to meet this threat is by paying farmers to "grow" solar power as a remunerative cash crop. Doing so can reduce pressure on aquifers, cut the subsidy burden on electricity companies, reduce...

-The Hindu Kollam (Kerala): A scheme implemented by the district panchayat for the welfare and health care of pregnant Adivasi women and infants is turning out to be a model for other districts, district panchayat president S. Jayamohan has said. Since the implementation of the scheme no infant mortality had been reported in the Adivasi belts of the district. Terming it ‘Kollam model,' Mr. Jayamohan said that providing nutritious food would be...