The agriculture ministry’s revised farm output projections for this year, indicating just about a 7.5 per cent downturn in foodgrain production despite the worst drought in recent years, lend themselves to some significant inferences. For one, the performance of the crops has turned out to be far better than what was feared. The earlier projections, released in November last, had put the likely crop loss at over 21 million tonnes,...

In India, the Bt Brinjal is a hot potato. Never has the eggplant - still cheap in an inflation-hit country - attracted so much attention. "Brief 38", a primer on Bt Brinjal - the country's first genetically modified (GM) food - brought out by the International Service for Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, is being downloaded 10,000 times a month. Genetically modified crops resist pests and give better yields as well as nutrition....

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...

MOLASUR, INDIA — It was Pongal a couple weeks ago, the Tamil harvest festival, and villages around here were alive with temple music and firecrackers. Tractors were scrubbed down, shiny, and cows were decked out in flowers. Pongal is a joyful holiday, a time of thanksgiving. For three days, the countryside was in a festive mood. The monsoons have been abundant this year. Village tanks are overflowing. Fields are green with...

Patna-based Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) has developed three varieties of potato as a New Year gift for farmers and potato consumers who were hit by the rise in the price of the commodity last year. The CPRI scientists have named the new varieties as kufary suya, pushkar and khyati. These offer better productivity and will be richer in protein and iron. They will have the average level of sugar. The principal...