-The Telegraph Demand for sustainable or organic cotton on the rise, providing an opportunity for the country to excel A few years ago, images of the drying up of the eastern bed of the Aral Sea had shocked millions. It was linked to the widespread growing of unsustainable cotton, backed by the Uzbekistan government, to pocket greater forex earnings and satiate the demands of the global fashion industry. The demand for sustainable...

-IndiaSpend.com Punjab has amongst the highest use of fertilisers, pesticides and large machinery, including government support for chemical farming, making it difficult to transition to organic and natural farming. Chandigarh: When Ashok Kumar, 63, started doing organic farming on three acres of his farm in Sohangarh Rattewala village in Punjab's western Ferozepur district in 2012, the benefits of good health and a cleaner environment were foremost on his mind. Besides growing food...

-NITI Aayog Working Paper, ISBN: 978-81-953811-7-3 Abstract -  The importance of agriculture in an economy usually declines as it climbs the development ladder. Raising agriculture productivity has been known to be an important precursor. Labour productivity in agriculture can either be increased by higher land productivity or higher land availability per farmer and mechanisation. In India, however, the dramatic increase in land productivity through industrial farming has caused severe environmental damage and...

-Centre for Science and Environment * Releases new report that presents irrefutable evidence of the benefits of non-chemical agriculture * Yesterday’s Budget promises to promote chemical-free natural farming, but it is a half-hearted promise at best, as no separate allocation has been made in it, says CSE * CSE’s asks: Invest in organic and natural farming. Make it a mass movement New Delhi, February 2, 2022: “Despite the push given to it through periodic...

-Hindustan Times Farm experts say cotton crop is considered the largest consumer of pesticides and insecticides and Punjab can reduce its chemical load with a dedicated policy on organic farming Punjab lacks a policy to promote organic cotton cultivation even as farmers associated voluntarily with it see viability of chemical-free production of the cash crop. Farm experts say cotton crop is considered the largest consumer of pesticides and insecticides and Punjab can reduce...