-PTI NEW DELHI: In order to improve availability of fodder in the country, several state governments today suggested setting up of a Fodder Corporation of India (FCI), ban on export of oilseed cake and disallowing harvesting of wheat and other fodder crop using combine harvestor. Some states also demanded that the Centre should treat animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries at par with the agriculture sector and ensure benefits such crop loans at...

-Down to Earth Asia houses 526 million of the 805 million chronically undernourished people in the world The good news is that the world today is producing enough to support the projected population of nine billion people by 2050. But the bad news is that still 805 million people-or one in every nine people-are hungry in the world, says a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund...

-Down to Earth Floods destroy standing crops; in July, hailstorm had damaged farms and orchards As floods washed away belongings of flood-affected people of Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre has intervened to ensure Food Availability to them. Union food and public distribution minister, Ram Vilas Paswan, has directed senior officials of Food Corporation of India (FCI) to camp at Srinagar and closely monitor the availability of food grains in the affected areas...

-Women's Feature Service Tribal families in Bankura, West Bengal, living on a stable diet of potato and rice and occasionally some 'daal' (lentils), are now consuming a variety of vegetables, cereals, fruits and animal protein with relish on a daily basis, marking a sea change in the nutrition parametres in one of the most backward districts of India. The credit for this dramatic transformation goes to the dry land sustainable integrated farming...

-The Hindu The right to good healthcare must be addressed using modern technology, innovative approaches and by involving tribals in developing solutions for their problems In his address to the nation on Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about inclusive development, with food security, safe housing and sanitation being the rights of every citizen. Health is intimately linked to these essentials of living. The health status of India's tribal communities is...