-The Hindu Zero Budget Natural Farming has no scientific validation and its inclusion into agricultural policy appears unwise Most criticisms of modern agricultural practices are criticisms of post-Liebig developments in agricultural science. It was after the pioneering work of Justus von Liebig and Friedrich Wöhler in organic chemistry in the 19th century that chemical fertilizers began to be used in agriculture. In the 20th century, the criticisms levelled against Green Revolution technologies...

Almost one in every five suicides in the world is committed by self-poisoning with pesticide, which mostly occur in rural, agricultural areas of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), states a new publication entitled 'Preventing Suicide: A resource for pesticide registrars and regulators'. Published jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the booklet says that the adoption of green revolution technology...

-TheWire.in India already has several kinds of FPOs. So why have they not made a dent on farmers' woes? On July 5, 2019, the government of India announced its intent to promote 10,000 farmer producer organisations (FPOs) over the next five years, as part of its efforts to increase farmer income and reduce agrarian distress.   Such collectivisation can be very powerful. The best known example of an FPO is that of Amul...

-Working Paper No. 75, July 2019, Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies, Bhubaneswar This study looks into four broad questions on smallholder agriculture, that is, the marginal and small farm sizes that constitute more than 85 per cent of the operational holdings in India. Are returns to smallholder agriculture sustainable? Is the smallholder agriculture efficient? Does the smallholder have access to formal sources of credit? Is credit provided by formal sources...

-The Economic Times Organised by Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), the Conference resolved that they will not allow another “PepsiCo India Vs Farmers episode” to recur in India. PUNE: Farmers’ movements have decided to put up a collective fight to ensure that farmers’ seed freedoms in India are not violated in any way, in a People’s Conference held here today. Organised by Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), the...