CEOs need to accelerate their action plans to safeguard the production of commodities critical to the global population and economy as heat stress and drought risk rise around the world, according to PwC's report, Climate Risks to Nine Key Commodities: Protecting People and Prosperity, published. The report, which analysed nine …
It's been 50 years since politicians have been mouthing the slogan: Jai jawan, jai kisan (Long live soldiers, long live farmers). Now it has started to sound like a raucous chant, at least to the farmers struggling to survive. They till the soil harder, increase their spending to replenish their …
the Central government has decided to file a petition in the us court challenging the patent for basmati rice granted to a company there that exports it to different countries. The court was hearing a writ petition filed by the Research Foundation for Science against the Union ministry of agriculture. …
Over the years, the use of bio-technology ( bt ) has emerged as a useful means to control crop pests. Because bt produced toxins against the insects, it represents a potential transgenic solution for pest control. The Chinese have put in a lot of effort to develop a virus-resistant variety …
a strain of genetically modified (gm) rice has been created by scientists to combat Vitamin A deficiency, the main cause of blindness that effects as many as 250 million children the world over. Swiss biotechnologist Ingo Potrykus, who led the Vitamin A research, said his team was also completing work …
To meet the power demands of rice mills, a small-scale unit based in Tanuka, Andhra Pradesh has developed a low-cost technology to generate electricity using rice husk. After three years of research, Associated Engineering Works have come up with the rice husk gasifier, which won them the department of scientific …
Scientists have genetically-engineered a variety of rice that could end vitamin A deficiency in developing countries. The deficiency results in blindness. Researchers at the International Rice Research Institute in Switzerland spliced three genes to make the rice rich in betacarotene, the source of vitamin A. However, the new crop, which …
japanese organic farmer Takao Furuno has hit upon a novel idea to make his paddy fields flourish: soon after the rice seedlings are planted, he releases ducks into the fields. "Well, it has been called a
the super-fine and high-yielding variety of raw rice, BB2 5204, evolved at the Babatala Research Station in Andhra Pradesh, is now being cultivated in an area of about 810 hectares in Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu. This variety is comparable to the low-cost, no-risk white-ponni, which was imported from Malaysia almost 15 …
The UK has banned the import and sale of a Chinese herbal medicine after it was linked to kidney failure. Aristolochia, used to treat fluid retention and rheumatic symptoms, was banned until October 27 on the advice of the Independent Committee on Safety of Medicines. The government said Aristolochia had …
The water crisis in Shahdadkot and Mirokhan villages in Pakistan has worsened posing serious threats to the rice crop. In almost all the villages, farmers carrying dried rice seeds disputed the claims of irrigation department officials that only a small area was without water. This was noted during a visit …
A hybrid variety of paddy suitable for Bangladesh's environment will be developed in the next two years. This was stated by the country's agriculture and food minister Motia Chowdhury. She said that the research into hybrid paddy was going on at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute to accelerate food production …
The West Bengal government has decided to challenge a high court order doing away with transit permits for inter-state rice export, said Kalimuddin Shams, state food and civil supply minister. He said rice mill owners were taking advantage of the high court order to export rice to other states and …
Pakistan's Punjab government has decided to launch a campaign to check marketing of substandard zinc sulphate used by farmers to get a higher yield of rice crop. The additional secretary (planning) Arif Nadeem said that the use of substandard zinc sulphate was the major factor responsible for low rice yield …
A series of ingenious selective breeding experiments carried out over the millennia by generations of unknown farmers in the Indian subcontinent have enormously expanded the genetic diversity of the Indian rice, Oryza sativa var. indica. This diversity is embodied in thousands of varieties of rice, also called landraces.As a result, …
A major rice variety in Bangladesh is being threatened by drought. "Our hopes for a quick agricultural recovery after last year's devastating floods have been threatened by prolonged dry weather that may badly affect the yield of Boro, a major rice variety,' said Qazi Shahabuddin Ahmed of the Bangladesh Institute …
Scientists at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Manila, have developed a new strain of rice, which they claim has more iron and gives more yield per hectare, taking less land and time to grow. Called "super rice', it may hopefully belie the grim predictions of famine that half the …
A seeder, which can simultaneous sow and provide manure to the crops, has been developed. The machine, put together by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, has two ground wheels, two skids and a swinging type handle. With the help of three people 0.5 to 0.75 ha of land can be …
Even though farmers all over the world fear that grain yields are plateauing, Yuan Longping, the director of the National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Centre in Hunan Province, China says that a big jump in rice productivity is round the corner. Yuan claims he is on the verge of …
Vietnamese farmers are going through a bad time due to persistent drizzle that has affected supply of coffee in the province of Dalak. "The weather is now dangerous for the coffee business,' said a trader. He said the drizzle in Dalak had disrupted the drying process. Dalak accounts for 60 …
patenting of basmati rice by Ricetec Inc of the us has been in and out of the news since February 1998. In response to a public interest petition filed in the Supreme Court, the Attorney General of India says Indian scientists and the best legal brains in the us are …
