India has inked 20 MoUs in the field of agriculture with U.S., Russia, Italy and others in the last three years for cooperation in research and development and capacity building, Parliament was informed today. Besides fostering bilateral partnership, India also entered into agreement in the farm sector in multilateral format. Broad based and inclusive multilateral cooperation is pursued through international organisations such as Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP)...

As many as 67 pesticides that have either been banned or severely restricted by some countries, have been allowed for use on crops in India, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar admitted in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. He said during Question Hour that 27 pesticides, including calcium cyanide, have been banned for manufacture, import and use in India. Nicotin Sulfate and Captafol have been banned for use in the country but their manufacture...

World Bank president Robert Zoellick recently listed nine measures that the G20 should adopt under its current French presidency. These range from improving information about grain stocks and developing better weather-forecasting methods to strengthening social safety nets for the poor and helping small farmers benefit from tenders from humanitarian purchasers such as the World Food Programme . These measures tackle only the symptoms of the global food system's weaknesses, leaving the...

Trade unions of all hues join forces in an unprecedented manner and present a charter of demands to the government. IN a rare show of unity, and for the first time since Independence, around one lakh workers affiliated to eight central trade unions and national industrial federations, including the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) and the trade unions of the Left parties, came out on the streets of New...

Ram Dia Singh was ready to chuck in his life as a farmer in northern India to embrace that of an ascetic in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains. When he consulted his guru in the hill town of Solan, instead of being welcomed into a holy order he was instructed to return to the land and do good works among fellow farmers who increasingly struggle to eke out a living...