-The Hindu Business Line Recently, the Telangana Agricultural Advisory Forum, consisting of a few university professors and scientists, deliberated on the causes and consequences of the drought and farmer ‘suicides’ in the State. The unofficial number of suicides attributed to farm families is 1,152. An inquiry into some of the recent suicides reveals an Interesting picture. The farmers were not indebted to cooperative credit societies or commercial banks. The case of a...
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Odisha tribals lose food source as teak plantations deluge their ‘forest farms’ -Jayashree Nandi
-The Times of India BURLUBARU, KANDHAMAL: Kanigalaru Majhi's food stocks are running out. A middle aged woman from the Kutia Kondh tribe in Kandhamal's Burlubaru village in Odisha's Kandhamal district, Majhi is worried there will be a time soon when they will no longer be able to depend on the hills for their food because teak plantations have supplanted entire patches of forest where Kanigalaru and her tribespeople sourced millets, pulses, tubers...
More »Lie of the land: Only 39 of 133 GM crop field trials monitored in 6 years -Dipu Rai
-DNA The Centre has always claimed that the country has a robust regulatory mechanism Busting the claims of the Indian government and scientists that the country has a robust regulatory mechanism to test genetically modified (GM) crops, toxic loopholes are emerging. From 2008 to 2014, only 39 of the 133 GM crop field trials were properly monitored, leaving the rest for unknown risks and possible health hazards to common people. Documents accessed...
More »Getting drinking water from humidity in this Kutch village -Ankur Tewari
-The Times of India AHMEDABAD: Kothara village in Kutch has 30 non-toxic plastic condensers installed in a surface area of 540sqm to generate water from humid air. This is filtered, stored in tanks and dispensed through pouches. In just four months, 13,500 litres of drinking water is produced and the cost for this is Rs30 per 20 litre container. On clear nights, the top surface of condensers gradually cools by losing heat...
More »Fixing India’s farm failures
-Livemint.com India needs to invest more in developing rural infrastructure The script is familiar. After borrowing heavily for inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, farmers in most parts of India wait for the monsoon. When the rain fails, the farmers’ agony begins. Forced migration to cities in search of manual work, distress sales of land and, in extreme cases, suicides are the way out. This kharif season has a distressingly familiar ring...
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