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. …
A study was conducted to understand trends in the conservation of the locally adapted critically endangered radish landrace ‘Newar ’ (Raphanus jaunpurensis sp. nova.), conventionally grown in certain saline areas of Jaunpur city, Uttar Pradesh for use in salads, and for other traditional household uses, as well as the sale …
This publication seeks to document the findings of a study on the general characteristics of agrodiversity, its significance, status, rate of change, and causal factors; the ecological, social, and policy dimensions of agrodiversity and their impact on the loss of agrobiodiversity; and existing strategies for the management of agroecosystems in …
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 …
Since 1976, in the northeastern hill region of Mizoram intensive collections of maize landraces were made by ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi and diversity of landraces maize from this region comprised 36% of the total collection from whole India, which was the highest number of accession among other regions . The maize …
For millennia, seeds have been freely available to use for farming and plant breeding without restriction. Within the past century, however, intellectual property rights (IPRs) have threatened this tradition. In response, a movement has emerged to counter the trend toward increasing consolidation of control and ownership of plant germplasm. One …
Domestication and breeding have influenced the genetic structure of plant populations due to selection for adaptation from natural habitats to agro-ecosystems. Here, we investigate the effects of selection on the contents of 51 primary kernel metabolites and their relationships in three Triticum turgidum L. subspecies (i.e. wild emmer, emmer, durum …
Agricultural practices routinely create opportunities for crops to hybridize with wild relatives, leading to crop gene introgression into wild genomes. Conservationists typically worry this introgression could lead to genetic homogenization of wild populations, over and above the central concern of transgene escape. Alternatively, viewing introgression as analogous to species invasion, …
MUMBAI: With the twin challenges of population growth and climate change, there is a need to conserve native seeds from the world over that will help in achieving food security, a top Crop Trust executive has said. "In order to achieve zero hunger and food security, there is a need …
Anecdotal accounts regarding reduced US cropping system diversity have raised concerns about negative impacts of increasingly homogeneous cropping systems. However, formal analyses to document such changes are lacking. Using US Agriculture Census data, which are collected every five years, we quantified crop species diversity from 1978 to 2012, for the …
Humans require resilient, rapidly renewable and sustainable supplies of food and many other plant-derived supplies. However, the combined effects of climate change and population growth compromise the provision of these supplies particularly in respect to global food security. Crop wild relatives (CWR) contain higher genetic diversity than crops and harbour …
While the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act 2001 is a progressive piece of legislation that recognises farmers' rights to seed, it demands payment of an annual maintenance fee by the farmers to protect the varieties which they have been cultivating and conserving for years, only because these …
India is the first country to provide substantial rights to farmers and registration of their varieties for IPR under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Act. Obviously, in the initial years the filing of applications was slow and inconsistent, and it was restricted to few crop species. …
Understanding the effects of actions undertaken by human societies on crop evolution processes is a major challenge for the conservation of genetic resources. This study investigated the mechanisms whereby social boundaries associated with patterns of ethnolinguistic diversity have influenced the on-farm distribution of sorghum diversity. Social boundaries limit the diffusion …
A decade ago, Chandra Pradhani, a Paraja tribal of Nuaguda village in Kundra block of Odisha's Koraput district, would migrate to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh to earn a living as a brick kiln worker. He no longer does this. Today, he is feted by the nation. He was one of the …
When we reflect back in the past, we recollect Pandit Nehru's declaration soon after Independence in 1947, 'Everything else can wait but not Agriculture'. In 1948, Mahatma Gandhi orchestrated 'God is bread to the hungry'. This perspective of our national leadership led to the development of research institutions and the …
When you see the traditional maize of Mexico for the first time you are stunned. It is a cornucopia of unimagined colours and lustre: blue black, purple, translucent beige, pearly white, some deep burgundy, sun-kissed yellow or crushed mulberry, and countless other combinations. Many of the variegated corn varieties appear …
Something is stirring in paddy fields across India. New seeds, new crop management techniques and newly minted food security policies are about to hit the countryside. Not all of the changes that are being forged in Krishi Bhawan, headquarters of the Union agriculture ministry, in the top-flight research institutions across …
The Asian green revolution trebled grain yields through agrochemical intensification of monocultures. Associated environmental costs have subsequently emerged. A rapidly changing world necessitates sustainability principles be developed to reinvent these technologies and test them at scale. The need is particularly urgent in Africa, where ecosystems are degrading and crop yields …
The study compares gross revenues from modern rice varieties and landraces and valuates different useful traits of rice landraces to demonstrate an empirical methodology for biodiversity valuation. A sample of 200 rice growers in hills and plain area was surveyed for commercialization of agro-biodiversity project. For estimating the value put …
