Exceeding 235 million tonnes, it has been the highest since Independence India's food production crossed 235 million tonnes during 2010-11 as per the latest estimates and this is the highest since Independence, S. Ayyappan, Director-General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, said on Saturday. The previous highest production, at nearly 233 million tonnes, was achieved in 2008-09, while the output declined to around 218 million tonnes during 2009-10, he said interacting...
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Fertiliser use on the rise in India, soil health deteriorating
The use of fertilisers for agriculture in India has risen astronomically in the last 60 years, resulting in deterioration of soil health in many parts of the country, particularly the intensively cultivated Indo-Gangetic plains, also known as the “Great Plains”. In 1951-52, fertilizer usage in the country averaged less than one kg per hectare, which has now risen to 133 kg per hectare, according to information given on the Department of...
More »Climate Conversations - Women take on drought and pests with virtual science academy by Alina Paul-Bossuet
A couple of years ago, Mahabubnagar district in India’s southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh had one of its driest years since 1929. The region recorded 90 percent less rainfall than the norm. But the mass exodus expected when droughts cause crops to fail didn’t happen. Men didn’t leave to work in cities. They stayed put. This was partly down to a network of 8,000 highly motivated women. The Adarsha Mahila...
More »Is the MNREGS Affecting Rural Wages? by Jayati Ghosh
There are many critics and sceptics with respect to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which came into being because of political pressure that managed to overcome quite strenuous opposition from some of the most influential policy making circles. It is likely that much of this criticism is not really because of the declared reasons, like fiscal costs (which are thus far very little) and potential leakage. Rather,...
More »Jhum cultivation must stay with us!!! by ZK Pahrii Pou
These days, Jhum cultivation also known as ‘slash and burn method of cultivation’, ‘shifting cultivation’ etc has been under continuous scanner for its productivity and ecological viability. This form of cultivation is followed widely in almost all the North Eastern States including the hill areas of Manipur. There are those who consider jhum cultivation as unproductive and ecologically disastrous so that people (understood as tribal people of the hill areas)...
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