A fast growing economy is a thirsty economy and India is no exception—with the country’s water supply already under great strain, India must reassess its consumption to meet escalating demands for water to produce food and energy. Business-as-usual water practices cannot remain the same in India as the economy and its demand for freshwater grows over the coming decades. With an astounding 75% of freshwater already used for agriculture in India,...

The United Nations food and agriculture organization (FAO) is distributing wheat seeds that will benefit over half a million farming families, or nearly five million people, whose seed supplies were destroyed during the recent flood disaster. The floods, which began in late July and inundated one fifth of the country, claimed more than 1,800 lives and have affected more than 20 million others. Agriculture is the mainstay for over 80 per cent...

The world’s food security could be threatened by the failure to conserve the wild plant species that are genetically related to the crops grown by mankind for food, the United Nations food and agriculture organization (FAO) said in a new report released today. In the 350-page report, FAO warns that the loss of biodiversity will have a major impact on the ability of humankind to feed itself in the future, with...

Protecting the rights of land users from speculation, stepped up production of agrofuels and population growth is vital to combat global hunger and malnutrition, an independent United Nations expert said today. “Pressures on land are increasing as a result of speculation on farmland, the expansion of agrofuels production, and demographic growth in rural areas,” Special Rapporteur on the right to food Olivier De Schutter noted. “In this context, moving swiftly towards protecting...

India, a global breadbasket with economic growth that rivals China's, is still home to 42 per cent of the world's underweight children. The stark statistic, released by the Washington-based Food Policy Institute ahead of World Food Day on Saturday, stands in contrast to the country's burgeoning economy and hopes of boosting its global stature as exemplified by its hosting of this year's Commonwealth Games. "We need to be asking ourselves, what or...