Liberalisation of agricultural trade has worsened food security of South Asia, a study says. The report by Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre (MHHDC), an Islamabad-based research organisation also found that farm trade liberalisation increased the number of hungry people by 28.8 million. Private research organisation, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), organised launching of the report, 'Human Development in South Asia - 2009: Trade and Human Development' in Dhaka on Thursday. The...

The genetic diversity of the plants that we grow and eat and their “wild relatives” could be lost forever, threatening future food security, unless special efforts are stepped up to not only conserve but also utilize them, especially in developing countries. This is one of the key messages of the second report on The State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, launched today by FAO.   The...

According to the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) data on loans given out by nationalised and cooperative banks, there are more farmers doing agriculture in Delhi than Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal. The farmers in Delhi were allotted loan of Rs 22,077 crore in 2009 alone at mere 5% rate of interest, which is the second highest after agriculture-rich Punjab. Delhi’s loan disbursal amount is bizarre,...

The Union government's efforts to provide quick and quality insurance services to 38 lakh rural landless agricultural labourers in the state under the Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (AABY) have suffered a serious setback with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) refusing to renew the scheme. The LIC's decision has not only resulted in hardships not only to the poor households over the past six months but also to the children...

The government has assured full support to Indian companies exploring opportunities to acquire agricultural land in Africa for cultivation of pulses in order to deal with its domestic shortage. "We import pulses and we will be more supportive of more land being brought under cultivation and for value addition. India is the market and we have been investing in agriculture...," Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma had said. With the unabated...