-Down to Earth Aggressive sugarcane farming contaminates land, water The Union government intends to increase the amount of ethanol in the energy mix to lower the country’s dependence on imported oil and carbon footprint, as well as stabilise petrol prices. India currently blends about 8.5 per cent ethanol in petrol. The government is targeting a 10 per cent ethanol blend by 2022 and a 20 per cent blend (E20) by 2025. E20 can save...
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How to Cage a Protest: Notes From Day One of the Kisan Sansad -Indra Shekhar Singh
-TheWire.in A little surprised at the security measures, a farmer from Karnataka said the Jantar Mantar protest site seemed 'Emergency-esque' and resembled the border with Pakistan. New Delhi: It was about noon, when the brown dogs began to growl. Long hours of waiting, three “security checks” and a sultry sun made mediapersons slightly edgy, but the ‘Kisan Sansad’ was not in session yet. My eyes drifted to the red sundial across the...
More »Seeds of trouble -Jaideep Hardikar
-The Telegraph This year, a combination of factors is hurting the agriculture sector immensely A quiet, reverse transformation is happening in the countryside, and it is disconcerting. This sowing season, growing numbers of farmers are falling back on their bullocks as fuel prices are piercing the roof. The tractor, the symbol of modern farming, is becoming a luxury in the literal sense. The conventional ploughing equipment tied to bullocks costs only a...
More »Kharif sowing slips on deficient monsoon
-The Hindu Business Line Total area down 11.5 per cent; coarse cereals, oilseeds planting drops 20% With the south-west monsoon being seven per cent below normal till Friday, sowing of kharif crops continues to be affected. Data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmerss Welfare show that sowing lost its momentum further in terms of percentage. Data showed that a total of 612 lakh hectares (lh) had been covered till date compared...
More »Six-fold increase in people suffering famine-like conditions since pandemic began
-Press release by Oxfam dated 9th July, 2021 11 people are likely dying every minute from hunger, now outpacing COVID-19 fatalities, warns Oxfam A new Oxfam report today says that as many as 11 people are likely dying of hunger and malnutrition each minute. This is more than the current global death rate of COVID-19, which is around seven people per minute. The report, ‘The Hunger Virus Multiplies’ says that conflict remains the...
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