The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on July 23, 2020 has issued the draft Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Amendment Regulations, 2020 to further amend Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011. A new Regulation 2.2.2 has been …
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on July 23, 2020 has issued the draft Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Amendment Regulations, 2020 to further amend Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011. A new Regulation 2.2.2 has been …
The researchers estimated the reactive nitrogen (Nr) lost per unit food Nr consumed for organic food production in the United States and compared it to conventional production. We used a nitrogen footprint model approach, which accounts for both differences in Nr losses as well as differences in productivity of the …
This paper investigates the impact of exposure to extreme temperature on crop yields of a range of crops cultivated in the State of Karnataka, India. The crops examined in this study are rice, sorghum (jowar), finger millet (ragi), and pigeon pea. We use a taluk-level fixed effects panel data model …
The conversion of monoculture rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) plantations into rubber-based agroforestry systems has become a common trend in forestry management in the past few decades. Rubber–Flemingia macrophylla (a leguminous shrub) systems are popular in southwestern China’s Xishuangbanna region. The biogeochemical cycles of soil carbon and nitrogen in forests are mainly …
India has among the highest lost years of life from micronutrient deficiencies. We investigate what dietary shifts would eliminate protein, iron, zinc and Vitamin A deficiencies within households’ food budgets and whether these shifts would be compatible with mitigating climate change. This analysis uses the National Sample Survey (2011–12) of …
Domesticated species are impacted in unintended ways during domestication and breeding. Changes in the nature and intensity of selection impart genetic drift, reduce diversity, and increase the frequency of deleterious alleles. Such outcomes constrain our ability to expand the cultivation of crops into environments that differ from those under which …
Erratic rainfall has a detrimental impact on crop productivity but rainfall during the specific growth stage is rarely used in efficiency analysis. This study focuses on this untapped point and examines the influence of rainfall specifically encountered during the sowing stage and early vegetative growth stage and the flowering stage …
Food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa is a problem affecting 153 million individuals (ca. 25%). This problem could be worsen by the ongoing soil degradation, being cause by the reduction of soil organic matter and insufficient nutrient supply. Over 75% of the agricultural land in Africa could be classified as degraded …
A number of new crops have been developed that address important traits of particular relevance for smallholder farmers in Africa. Scientists, policy makers, and other stakeholders have raised concerns that the approval process for these new crops causes delays that are often scientifically unjustified. This article develops a real option …
Iron deficiency reduces capacity for physical activity, lowers IQ, and increases maternal and child mortality, impacting roughly a billion people worldwide. Recent studies have shown that certain highly consumed crops — C3 grains (e.g., wheat, rice, barley), legumes and maize — have lower iron concentrations of 4-10% when grown under …
In this modelling study, the researchers optimised typical dietary patterns in an Indian population sample to meet projected decreases in the availability of water per person for irrigation (blue water footprint) due to population growth (to 2025 and 2050). The optimised diets met nutritional guidelines and minimised deviation from existing …
Ghanaian Felix Dapare Dakora is a Plant and Soil Biotechnology Professor at the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, South Africa. Professor Dakora won the award for his work on the interaction between legumes and social micro-organisms allowing bacterium to convert the 78% of nitrogen gas in the atmosphere into …
While outlining strategies to increase availability of pulses at affordable prices, it is argued that increasing domestic production of pulses is the only option. Access to one or two protective irrigation sources during the growing season can lead to sizeable increases in pulse production. The har khet ko paani initiative …
Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) Sponsored Short Course on Reshaping Agriculture and Nutrition Linkages for Food and Nutrition Security is being organized at ICAR - Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (ICAR - CRIDA), Hyderabad during 17-26, November 2016. This publication is an outcome of compilation of lecture notes/book …
India features prominently in the recently released 2016 Global Nutrition Report. The report focuses on the nutrition-related progress and commitments made globally against malnutrition and identifies opportunities for action, with a particular focus on the commitments and actions necessary to end malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. The report …
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission measurements from livestock excreta in Africa are limited. We measured CH4 and N2O emissions from excreta of six Boran (Bos indicus) and six Friesian (Bos taurus) steers near Nairobi, Kenya. The steers were fed one of three diets (T1 [chaffed wheat straw], T2 [T1 + Calliandra …
Pulse panchayat is an integrated approach in establishing a sustainable production, value addition and marketing system. The initiative implemented by a Farmer Producer Company in Tamil Nadu, is moving towards achieving self sufficiency in pulse production. Original Source
Tubers, pulses and millets are important for the livelihoods and nutrition of poor farmers, especially in fragile regions. These crops are not only underutilised, but are also underresearched. Ama Sangathan, a women federation consisting of 1200 indigenous women, have revived these crops in two blocks in Odisha, by their vibrant …
The share of uncultivated foods from the forest has gradually declined in the diets of Paharia tribes in Jharkhand. Initiatives like conservation, preservation, processing of uncultivated foods has helped them regain their position and enhance the dietary diversity of the communities, also addressing the issues of hunger and malnutrition. Original …
Christmas Island has been mined for rock phosphate for over 100 years, and as mining will finish in the next few decades there is a need to develop alternative economies on the island, such as high value crop production. However, to conserve the unique flora and fauna on the island, …
