-Scroll.in Complex Livestock production systems in countries like India safeguard entire economies, societies and ecosystems. Amid growing calls to “reboot food” and shift to plant-based and lab-grown diets, world leaders failed to address the climate and livestock debate at COP27 – the United Nations 27th Climate Conference held in Egypt from November 6-20. Drawing from the report “Are livestock always bad for the planet?”, published by the Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience or PASTRES...

-Down to Earth Rise in demand for meat and dairy products was reconciled through the intensification of livestock systems Intensification of food production is gaining prominence in a world battered by climate change and food insecurity. Intensification aims to increase output for each unit of input (labour, land, time, fertiliser, seed, feed, or money). The need for intensification is more pressing when the supply of food needs to be augmented. For instance, in...

-Down to Earth A look at official data shows that the allocation of Food Corporation of India rice for ethanol was drastically increased in 2021-22, as compared to 2020-21. But the government has now put restrictions due to low production The Narendra Modi government imposed restrictions on the export of broken rice September 8, 2022. A number of theories are doing the rounds as to why the government did this, including a...

Door-to-door and village-to-village surveys carried out by researchers of the Department of Economics and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana detected a total of 9,291 suicides that were committed by farmers in six districts of Punjab during the period from 2000 to 2018. Situated in the Malwa region of Punjab, which is known for cotton farming and the prevalence of cancer among its population, Sangrur (2,506) witnessed the highest number of...

-Scroll.in With climate change, farmer suicides and agicultural distress, the drought-resilient coarse grain that requires few resources could be the answer. Already caught in a vicious cycle of debt and declining yields, Indian farmers now face new challenges from climate change. The Ministry of Earth Science, in a 2020 report, predicts, “Rising temperatures, heat extremes, and increasing year-to-year rainfall variability are likely to adversely impact crop yield.” India’s Green Revolution of the 1960s...