Agriculture specialists convening in Bern to debate the question of how to feed the world have agreed on one thing: a new paradigm is needed. Farming models are breaking down – as witnessed by the suicide of a farmer every half hour in India - and new directions for research in agriculture for development are needed to support the sector and combat global poverty. A joint conference hosted by non-government organisation Swissaid...
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Superweeds, superpests and superprofits by Vandana Shiva
New research from Navdanya and from the US Union of Concerned Scientists proves that Bt cotton yields are actually a third of what Monsanto claims. Genetic engineering is not going to help feed the world, writes Vandana Shiva, but it is going to harm public health and ecosystems We have been repeatedly told that genetically engineered (GE) crops will save the world. They will save the world by increasing yields and...
More »PMO directs ICAR to develop temperature resistant crop varieties
-The Economic Times The Prime Minister's Office has asked the department of agriculture to focus on ushering in the next phase of reforms by achieving self-sufficiency in key crops and ensuring creation of farm infrastructure. A review meeting of the agriculture sector, chaired by the Prime Minister's principal secretary, TKA Nair, has suggested specific measures to boost production, especially that of oilseeds and pulses, a government official said. The PMO asked...
More »The coming crisis for rain-dependent India by M Rajshekhar
It's that time of the year when Kishore Lal Singh's eyes almost involuntarily scan the skies. The monsoons are coming. In the months ahead, for this Bhil farmer growing cotton, maize and soya south of the Malwa plateau in Madhya Pradesh, life will again hang on a knife's edge. If it rains well, his two bighas (about four basketball courts) of cotton will yield 1,000 kg. If not, he will...
More »A warming planet struggles to feed itself by Justin Gillis
The dun wheat field spreading out at Ravi P. Singh's feet offered a possible clue to human destiny. Baked by a desert sun and deliberately starved of water, the plants were parched and nearly dead. Dr. Singh, a wheat breeder, grabbed seed heads that should have been plump with the staff of life. His practiced fingers found empty husks. “You're not going to feed the people with that,” he said. But then, over...
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