-The Hindu While there is reason to be proud of the progress in the production of wheat, rice, cereals and millets, the use of farmland for non-farm purposes is a cause for concern The year 2013 marks the 70th anniversary of the Bengal Famine which resulted in the death of an estimated 1.5 to 3 million children, women and men during 1942-43. A constellation of factors led to this mega-tragedy, such as...

-Live Mint Proposal aimed at beefing up security, besides making sure development reaches neglected parts of India A day after the government pledged the partial decontrol of sugar in the next fortnight, the Union cabinet on Thursday approved a set of significant measures aimed at tackling Maoist insurgency and asserting its strategic hold over an area claimed by neighbouring China.   The measures approved involve upgrading rural road connectivity with special emphasis on...

-The United Nations The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today called on countries to boost efforts to promote agroforestry, a practice involving the combination of trees with crop or livestock production, stressing it can help millions of people escape poverty and prevent environmental degradation, making it crucial to ensure food security in the future. “In many countries the potential of agroforestry to enrich farmers, communities and industry has not been...

-New Age Asia’s ability to keep food prices in check and ensure long-term regional food security will require the region’s farm to market supply chains to become more efficient and cost-effective, says a new Asian Development Bank  study. The Study titled ‘The Quiet Revolution in Staple Food Value Chains: Enter the Dragon, the Elephant and the Tiger’, was produced by ADB and the International food Policy Research Institute in response to the...

Eight journalists from Hindi and English media from six states have been selected for the 2013 Inclusive Media Fellowships of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). In the best tradition of investigative and meaningful journalism, the fellows will spend time with rural communities to bring out their issues and anxieties for public and policy intervention. The fellowship Jury comprising Mr Krishna Prasad, Editor-in-Chief, Outlook, Mr Arvind Mohan,...