The special meeting of Chief Ministers convened by the Centre indicates that food price inflation remains worrisome. But at the meet the problem was underplayed and little of substance emerged.  With food price inflation still running at close to 18 per cent, the UPA government at the Centre has been forced to recognise that it constitutes a problem that deserves as much or more attention than the objective of achieving...

In April last year, the Supreme Court, in response to a public interest litigation filed by the Gene Campaign (whose convenor is the internationally known geneticist Dr Suman Sahai), directed the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) to consider the toxicity and allergenicity of GM crops and to post the relevant material on the web so that independent experts could examine these. The Supreme Court asked the GEAC to study also...

DINDORI: While an interface between tradition and technology often leads to the surfacing of conflict-inducing fault lines, just sometimes the two integrate seamlessly to alter lifestyles of those who experience them. One such example is German technological assistance changing the lives of Baiga tribals of Dindori district. Tribals of the Chhapra village in the district, who still trade through the barter system, have achieved a great degree of self-sufficiency through...

Dr U Jaikumaran is breathless with excitement over the phone. “The next five days will be hectic and crucial in our war against hunger. We have to transplant rice on 300 acres in just five days.” Dr Jaikumaran, a professor at the Kerala Agriculture University (KAU), has been building a Food Security Army (FSA) – men and women in green uniforms organised into nine regiments and 24 battalions – who are...

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned Rs.1.15 crore from its Farmers Technology Transfer Fund to the National Agro Foundation (NAF), NABARD’s Managing Director K.G. Karmakar announced on Saturday. Speaking at a function in Illedu village, Kancheepuram, to observe the birth centenary of the former statesman, C. Subramanian, he said the funds had been sanctioned to the NAF to help farmers access new technologies. NABARD was interested...