-The Indian Express The budget aims at economic growth and social protection. This is welcome. So are provisions for financial inclusion, housing, water, sanitation and rural electrification. But there are also substantial cuts in crucial social sectors and key omissions that are likely to undermine its stated economic objectives. Consider agriculture, environment and women. First, double-digit growth or poverty reduction is unlikely without strong, sustained agricultural growth. In 2014-15, agriculture grew at...

-IPS News NAGAPATNAM, India - Standing amidst his lush green paddy fields in Nagapatnam, a coastal district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, a farmer named Ramajayam remembers how a single wave changed his entire life. The simple farmer was one of thousands whose agricultural lands were destroyed by the 2004 Asian tsunami, as massive volumes of saltwater and metre-high piles of sea slush inundated these fertile fields in the...

-The Tribune The outlook for all things smart is opening up, including Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA). Varanasi, set to develop as a Smart City, will be a lighthouse for sectors seeking sustainable ways to handle demographic pressures, finite environmental resources and climate change. The Finance Minister's budget speech has promised a hundred smart cities. With urban India well covered, it is the turn now of smart agriculture, equipped both to enhance food...

-PTI Chandigarh: Experts at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) meeting on agriculture here today raised concern over high water consuming crops after the advent of green revolution. They pitched in favour low water consuming, heat-resistant high-production crops. On the second day of the session on impending food crisis of the world due to explosion of population, they stressed on finalising a blueprint to enhance agriculture production by at least 50 per cent by...

-The Financial Express The Asian Development Bank (ADB) warns of a 9% annual loss to the GDP of South Asia from climate change by 2100 if global fossil fuel usage continues unabated. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) warns of a 9% annual loss to the GDP of South Asia from climate change by 2100 if global fossil fuel usage continues unabated. While the global scientific community is divided on the exact cause...