-The Times of India NAGPUR: Reviving the debate once again over local indigenous variety versus the ones promoted by agriculture universities, an NGO Gramin Yuva Pragatik Mandal (GYPM) took up the challenge to prove that local indigenous seeds were more effective and scripted a success story. In the process, the NGO not just proved its claim right but also produced 19 traditional varieties of rice on a 10-acre plot within a...

-Down to Earth/ India Science Wire Rice can be a vital source of nutrition if some of the nutritious varieties of rice traditionally grown can be popularised. Rice is a staple food for millions of Indians. It can also be a vital source of nutrition and health-benefiting substances if some of the nutritious varieties of rice traditionally grown can be popularised and polishing is kept to a minimum, a new study of...

-Down to Earth India requires policy changes to make millets an effective tool against malnutrition Nutrient-rich millets, which have been a crucial part of human diet since ancient times, have lost their importance due to globally commercialised agronomic practices to produce more foodgrains. Though awareness has been growing among the public in the recent years about the health benefits of a millet-based diet—high fibre, low carbohydrate, protein-rich and gluten-free—gaps persist on several...

-Governance Now On World Food Day, the country needs to focus on promoting the dying practice of locally producing food by aboriginals like Baigas and Gonds After spending almost a month among tribals of Mandla in Madhya Pradesh, I can confidently say that by restricting ourselves to Public Distribution System (PDS), we cannot solve the food security issues of the country.   The problem is graver. In a district like Mandla, where...

-The Hindu Over the years we have lost over a lakh varieties of native rice. One district in Odisha is rediscovering some of them It is a balmy winter morning when I meet Kamli Bataraa, an ebullient Adivasi farmer, at her home in Belugan, in southern Odisha’s Koraput district. There is a hum across the village from the threshing of just-harvested paddy. When I ask Kamli about the rice varieties she grows,...