-Down to Earth  The past three decades have seen stagnation in acreage, production and productivity of pulses across the country due to a bevy of reasons that include availability of more profitable crops The primary reason behind India’s domestic shortage in pulses is stagnation of production over the past five decades. Overcoming the Pulses Crisis, a 2010 report by the Confederation of Indian Industry, states the production of pulses grew only by...

-PTI/ The New Indian Express These special traits crop varieties also include those that address the anti-nutritional factors found in some crops that adversely affect human and animal health. NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched 35 crop varieties with special traits -- developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) -- to address the twin challenges of climate change and malnutrition. The new crop varieties were dedicated to the...

-Down to Earth These traditional varieties of rice are on the verge of extinction from farm fields As many as 12 folk varieties of Indian rice examined by researchers can supplement the nutritional demand of important fatty acids in undernourished mothers, a recent study has claimed. These can further supplement the arachidonic acid (ARA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in neonates through breast-feeding. DHA and ARA are fatty acids found in breast milk, as...

Remote teaching and learning promoted by Edtech companies as an alternative to physical classrooms, especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, may have a sizeable consumer base in our country. However, at the bottom of the pyramid, there are only a few takers of online education. In reality, class and caste-divide, which is more prominent in rural areas, affects access to digital learning. The majority of the school going...

-Newsclick.in The lack of proper relief measures has caused the locals in the worst-hit regions to protest against the local TMC leaders and administration. Kolkata: Inadequacy of relief measures are plaguing four flood affected districts of West Bengal—Howrah, Hooghly, West Medinipur, and Burdwan—as Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) continues to release water following heavy rainfall in the catchment areas. There are protests breaking out in areas under affected and leaders of the ruling...