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 …
The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Friday said an immediate ban on biofuel production can save the world from looming food crisis which can result in massive malnutrition, starvation, and riots. The worst drought in 50 years in the US and lack of rains in India and some other countries …
Legumes are widely used in many cropping systems because they share their nitrogen fixation products and phosphorus mobilization activities with their neighbors. In the current study, however, we showed that co-cultivation with legumes increased cadmium (Cd) contamination in the adjacent crops. Both field and mesocosm experiments indicated that legumes increased …
The ambitious plan of the state government to indigenously manufacture bio-plastic from organic material as an alternative to polythene, a concept visualised by none other than Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, has been grounded before take-off. Much to the government’s discomfort, the state is clueless and does not have any alternative …
Cynthia Rosenzweig heads the Climate Impacts Group at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. Recently she has taken on another role co-leading the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project. She explains that task to Nature Climate Change.
The prices of internationally traded maize and soybeans reached all-time peaks in July, following an unprecedented summer in both the United States and Eastern Europe in terms of high temperatures and lack of rain fall. Wheat prices have also soared to levels comparable to the 2011 peaks but below all-time …
Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan have refused to accept further cut on water release by the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), saying that crop must be saved first. “Partnering States (Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan) have not agreed to take further cut on water,” an official of BBMB said here. A 10 …
New Delhi In the shadow of the monsoon deficit, the Union agriculture ministry has drafted a contingency plan for states that have received scanty rainfall, focussing on alternative or short-duration crops. The Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) blueprint includes a shift, wherever possible, to alternative crops like bajra, groundnut, …
The widespread use of Bt crops reduces the outbreaks of certain targeted pests and the need for insecticide use, leading to enhanced biocontrol of other potential pest species in the Bt crops; neighbouring non-Bt crops may also benefit.
Jalandhar: Despite Punjab being asked by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) to decrease at least 10 lakh hectare under water-guzzling paddy in state and use the same for maize cultivation, the government has been unable to do so in the past three years. This year’s target area under maize …
France's attempt to ban the planting of a Monsanto strain of genetically modified maize was rejected by the EU's food safety body on Monday. In response to scientific evidence submitted by France backing its bid to ban the GM maize, the European Food Safety Authority ruled that "there is no …
The Sri Lankan government is to provide the fertilizer subsidy currently granted to paddy cultivation to supplementary crop cultivations as well. Wild Life and Agrarian Services Minister S.M. Chandrasena has said the Rs. 350 fertilizer subsidy granted to paddy cultivations would be granted to supplementary crop cultivations from today (21). …
New Delhi Punjab, the grain bowl of India, is in danger of losing the coveted tag as depleting groundwater levels force the state to seriously consider reducing the planting of water-intensive paddy crop in the medium-to-long term to avoid a disaster. After a recent meeting with Punjab chief minister Parkash …
A fast-spreading plague of "super weeds" taking over U.S. farmland will not be stopped easily, and farmers and government officials need to change existing practices if food production is to be protected, industry experts said on Thursday. "This is a complex problem," said weed scientist David Shaw in remarks to …
‘State does not distribute seeds, it only certifies for distribution' Despite opposition from various quarters, including the agricultural experts and the farmers' organisations, the Gujarat government has refused to impose a total ban on distribution of the Monsanto hybrid maize seed named “Prabal” to the farmers in the State, particularly …
In flood-hit fields in the Philippines, farmers are testing a hardy new variety of rice that can survive completely submerged for more than two weeks. In Kenya's Kibera slum, poor urban families are turning around their diets and incomes just by learning to grow vegetables in sack gardens outside their …
Gandhinagar: Gujarat agriculture minister Dilip Sanghani has said the state government had ‘stopped’ the distribution of the controversial Monsanto maize seed Prabal in Gujarat. However, neither the state agriculture department nor the state tribal department have taken any decision on totally banning the distribution of the hybrid seed. In fact, …
This new study by UK-based PG Economics presents the findings of research on global socio-economic and environmental impact of biotech crops from 1996-2010, since they were first commercially planted on a significant area. This study presents the findings of research into the global socio-economic and environmental impact of biotech crops …
Bt-maize is a transgenic variety of maize expressing the Cry toxin from Bacillus turingiensis. The potential accumulation of the relative effect of the transgenic modification and the cry toxin on the rhizobacterial communities of Bt-maize has been monitored over a period of four years.
Ahmedabad: The state government has taken a decision to stop distributing Monsanto’s maize seeds called ‘Prabal’ to farmers. The decision was taken in a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. Confirming the decision, agriculture minister Dilip Sanghania said, “The government has taken a decision that it will not distribute maize seeds of …
