Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
Plants are essential sources of food, medicine, shelter, fuel, feed, and forage, and provide a wide range of additional ecosystem and cultural services to humanity. In recognition of the tremendous value of useful plants and of the increasing threats to their persistence, international agreements including the Convention on Biological Diversity, …
Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is the most important commercially grown fruit crop in India, available throughout the length and breadth of the country and aptly acknowledged as the ‘national fruit of India’. It enjoys a prominent place in the Indian fruit market, contributing more than 20% of total fruit production …
Predicted impacts of climate change on crops—including yield declines and loss of conservation lands—could be mitigated by exploiting existing diversity within crops. Here we examine this possibility for wine grapes. Across 1,100 planted varieties, wine grapes possess tremendous diversity in traits that affect responses to climate, such as phenology and …
Creativity and innovation are important factors for sustainable agricultural growth. Intellectual property right (IPR) is the key driver of innovation. However, many argue against this view, as it would benefit only a certain section in a country. The present study analyses the perception of stakeholders on Indian IPR system for …
The spread of pests and pathogens that damage plant life could cost global agriculture $540 billion a year, according to this report released by the Royal Botanic Gardens in London. An increase in international trade and travel had left flora facing rising threats from invasive pests and pathogens, and called …
Scientists working at Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala’s Centre for Medicinal Plants Research (CMPR) have discovered two new species of medicinal plants from the Western Ghats. The research team led by K.M. Prabhukumar and Indira Balachandran discovered a new Habenaria species during their floristic explorations in the shola forests on the …
Dhanbad: The Parasnath hill in Giridih district is known for its lush green cover, which include rare medicinal trees and herbal plants. However, the green cover is fast depleting. Forest department officials said uncontrolled fire ignited by mahua pickers, grazing and felling of valuable trees are among reasons that have …
In an age of free international shipments of mail-ordered seeds and plants, more policing will not stop the global migration of hitchhiking pests. The solution is in a preemptive response based on an internationally coordinated genomic deployment of global biodiversity in the largest breeding project since the “Garden of Eden.” …
Coimbatore: More than 6,000 specimens at the 105-year-old herbarium in the Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding (IFGTB) can now be accessed by the click of a mouse, as the institute plans to digitise it. The digitisation will help preserve the fragile specimens, prone to damage due to constant …
THIMPU: A snub-nosed mon key that sneezes when it ra ins, a walking fish and a jewel like snake are among more than 200 new species discove red in the fragile eastern Hi malayas, according to a new report by WWF. A report on wildlife in Nepal, Bhutan, the far …
KERI: A pair of endemic Southern Birdwing butterflies in mating posture has been photographed in Bhuipal by Suryakant Gaonkar. The Southern Birdwing (Troides Minos) is a large and striking Swallowtail butterfly that is endemic to peninsular India and is seen mainly during the days after rainfall recedes. Villages of Sattari …
Eastern Himalayas, particularly the small mountain state of Sikkim, is emerging as a treasure trove for botanists, mycologists and naturalists who in the year 2015 alone have discovered as many as nine species of wild mushrooms (belonging to kingdom fungi) of which at least one species is highly appreciated and …
347 species of flora and 424 of fauna, including two reptiles have been discovered in the country in 2013-2014, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar informed Lok Sabha today. "As per the studies conducted by scientists and taxonomists of Botanical Survey of India (BSI) and Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), 347 plant …
Medicinal plant trade is important for local livelihoods. However, many medicinal plants are difficult to identify when they are sold as roots, powders or bark. DNA barcoding involves using a short, agreed-upon region of a genome as a unique identifier for species– ideally, as a global standard. Original Source
At a time when plants and animals are under threat across the world, nature lovers and conservationists in India have 349 reasons to feel happy. Scientists and taxonomists of the country have discovered 349 new species of flora and fauna in the past one year — 173 species and genera …
In order to establish the gene bank of the highly threatened and rare varieties of medicinal, wild food and other species and to develop their nursery for re-plantation of the seedlings of these rare species for restoring and enriching of the floral diversity of the region, the Haldwani forest division …
Scientists call for curbs on quarrying in biodiversity pockets A team of scientists from four research institutions in Kerala have reported the discovery of a rare species of plant from the Palakkad gap region of the Western Ghats, highlighting the floral diversity in the region and triggering the demand for …
Ministry of Environment & Forest and Climate Change vide its notification No. S.O. 3232 dated 17.12.2014 has, in consultation with the National Biodiversity Authority, declared that the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation may, from time to time specify such crops as it considers necessary from amongst the crops listed in …
A research team from SNM College, Maliankara, has reported the discovery of three new plant species from the Pooyamkutty-Edamalayar region, highlighting the rich biodiversity of the Western Ghats. The investigations were part of a University Grants Commission-sponsored project on flowering plants of Ernakulam district headed by Associate Professor C.N. Sunil. …
A biodiversity survey carried out by the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) has documented and photographed 205 varieties of mangoes in the Western Ghats in Maharashtra. Conducted through a network of about 250 schools under the state government's special scheme for eco-clubs across 12 districts that fall in the hilly …
