-The Hindu Say policymakers induce farmers to adopt incongruent crop pattern, causing water crisis Pune: The water crisis in Maharashtra is a “policy-induced failure”, according to economists and water academics who have specifically warned of the ‘desertification’ of the parched Marathwada region in the near future. “It is the ecological illiteracy of policy-makers and the selfishness of the power elite in inducing farmers across Marathwada to adopt a crop pattern that is not...

-The Hindu Country’s high population makes it vulnerable to an ecological crisis, says World Wide Fund for Nature India’s soil biodiversity is in grave peril, according to the Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas prepared by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The WWF’s ‘risk index’ for the globe — indicating threats from loss of above-ground diversity, pollution and nutrient over-loading, over-grazing, intensive agriculture, fire, soil erosion, desertification and climate change — shows India among...

-The Times of India GURUGRAM: The sand storm conditions prevailing in the city for three days has raised fears of early desertification of the Delhi-NCR region among environmental experts. According to the experts, there has been an increase in frequency, longevity and density of sand storms in this region this year. “The frequency of sand storms has increased in the city in the past one decade. While earlier (in 2002), summer sand...

-Down to Earth If the world spends even a fraction of the predicted loss, it can reverse land degradation, which affects the poorest the most The world will lose $23 trillion by 2050 due to land degradation, warns a United Nations Convention to Combat desertification (UNCCD) review. In comparison, only US $4.6 trillion, a fraction of the predicted losses, will be required to rectify what is one of the biggest threats...

-The Times of India PATIALA: In a move aimed at preventing ‘desertification’ of Punjab by saving more than 24 lakh million litres of water in just five days, the state government has issued a notification to delay the paddy sowing by another five days. The five-day delay would be saving enough water to meet all requirements of the state (including domestic and industrial) for over one and a half years. The notification has...