-The Tribune The next food system transformation has to be based on diversity and building on food sovereignty. The future global food system has to be back in the hands of 3.6 billion peasants, small farmers, pastoralists and fishermen where biodiversity protection, income security and climate justice go hand in hand. SOME years back, a study by the University of Sussex (UK) showed a dramatic decline in insect population within a nature...

Is India a country where most people eat vegetarian food? The answer to this question is a bit complex. The consumption of either vegetarian or non-vegetarian food depends not just on one's personal choice but also on one’s geographical location, caste and religious background, gender and marital status. There are other determining factors as well behind a person's choice of food.  The results of the newly released data of the fifth...

-TheWire.in * The proposed Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill 2021 encourages a conducive environment for investments and to simplify the patent application process. * Farmers in India have historically been against any kind of IP rights – whether patents or plant variety protection over seed and planting materials. * In a confused mix of laws, the government also grants IP rights to BMCs for farmers’ varieties – formed under the Biological Diversity Act –...

-Hindustan Times The study has been authored by Aditi Roy, PHFI Crop diversity is thought to have small, positive impacts on dietary diversity among farming households, particularly when market access is restricted. Policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic severely restricted market access. To date, no study has explored the relationship between crop and dietary diversity in this context. To address this gap, we used longitudinal data collected from 833 farmers across 12...

-GaonConnection.com The Indian government is considering ‘mandatory’ food fortification in the country. Several health experts have written to FSSAI calling the decision ‘a blanket approach’ to meet the complexity of malnutrition in the country. Details here. At least 170 people and organisations, including medical experts and nutritionists, have today, on August 2, written a letter to Ashok Kumar Mishra, the assistant director of Food Fortification Resource Centre, department that regulates food under...