India’s six science academies have certified genetically modified brinjal as safe through a report whose largest section is plagiarised from a biotechnology propaganda newsletter, a coalition of non-government organisations has said. The six science academies have in a report submitted to the Union environment ministry argued that GM brinjal appeared safe but recommended a limited release, calling for post-marketing surveillance for health effects if any. But a coalition of environmental groups today...

The man, who on the eve of India’s independence deliberately opted to study Agriculture Science instead of Medicine, M S Swaminathan, on Tuesday said attracting young minds to farming is the essential for the revival of the sagging farm sector. The Father of Indian Green Revolution said that the challenge before the country is to get younger generation to the fields. This is important to continue the tradition of farming. The 84-year-old...

India and China Two largest populated countries of the world and next door neighbors; though greatly different in their cultures, lifestyles and most important pace of growth. Maintaining an edge over India in the manufacturing sector and urban infrastructure development, China is also not lagging behind in the rural development sector. China feeds 21% of the world population with only 9% of the world arable land. The 2nd largest populated country has to...

The initiatives under the programme include gearing up to meet new challenges in climate change, Public-Private partnership projects and programmes to make more people take to agriculture as a livelihood Looking to boost farm sector growth by more than 4%, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research has chalked out a Rs2300-crore programme with focus on research and making farming a popular livelihood option. “Now every state is coming up well in the...

Sixty-five per cent of hungry people in the world live in Asia, according to a new report on Food Security, which also warns that the gains of the Green Revolution could be at risk due to declining trends in Agricultural research and rural investment.The report prepared by a group of researches led by noted agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan, who is also known as the father of India's Green Revolution,...