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. …
With a view to improving the fertility of soil after ascertaining the minerals and micronutrients it lacks, the agriculture authorities have issued 16,000 soil health cards to farmers in Sirsa. Samples of soil taken from the fields of 16,000 more farmers have been collected and the authorities hope to issue …
Clay minerals are natural materials well known for their role in retention and persistence of organic and inorganic compounds in soil. Clay minerals are being modified through different processes to alter their charge and surface properties tailored for specific purposes. Modified clays in general include pillared layered clays, organoclays, nanocomposites, …
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest among three major carbon pools of global ecosystems. During the past few years, global warming and forcible land-use changes have resulted in a huge loss of this major carbon pool and as a consequence, concentration of atmospheric CO2 has increased. To mitigate the …
The Agriculture department on Monday launched a soil testing drive--Apni Mitti Pehchano--that will be carried out in four phases across the state. Several mobile soil testing labs were flagged off for rural areas from the Agriculture directorate in the state capital by Agriculture Director Mukesh Gautam in the presence of …
Litterfall added by trees enriches the organic matter and nutrient content of soil under the trees. The influence of tree species was evaluated on soil organic carbon (OC), available macro (N, P and K) and micronutrient (Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu) concentration of soil and their accumulation in the soil.
The corporate sector has evinced interest in the Assam farming sector for the first time by setting up the first farmer field school at Natoli in the Kaliabor subdivision of Nagaon district recently. The school, set up by United Phosphorus Limited (UPL)-Advanta, a crop protection, chemicals and seeds company, is …
Studies carried out by a team of scientists at the Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR) have revealed high levels of phosphorus in the soil samples from Kozhikode and Wayanad districts. Overuse of chemical fertilisers and neglect towards soil test-based fertiliser recommendations have resulted in imbalances in the nutrient levels …
The Tibetan Plateau is an essential area to study the potential feedback effects of soils to climate change due to the rapid rise in its air temperature in the past several decades and the large amounts of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, particularly in the permafrost. Yet it is one …
To examine the effects of C and water additions on soil microbial properties and plant growth, we conducted an experiment lasting two years in a temperate steppe of northeastern China. We found that soil C and water additions significantly affected microbial properties and stimulated plant growth. Carbon addition significantly increased …
PATNA, 29 FEB: The election may still be far away, but the ruling Nitish Kumar government in Bihar has already drafted a well thought-out, new political strategy to beat its rivals in the polls. In a marked shift from his previous strategy of focusing on “good roads” and “improved law …
The race to buy mines is on not just in metals and coal. Agriculture is caught in an equally-intense struggle for new mines. And the billions farm input companies are willing to invest seem worth it because these mines are critical to global food production. ET helps you join the …
Soil test based nutrient management has emerged as a key issue in efforts to increase agricultural productivity and production since optimal use of nutrients, based on soil analysis can improve crop productivity and minimize wastage of these nutrients, thus minimizing impact on environmental leading to bias through optimal production. Deficiencies …
This Compendium of Environment Statistics 2011 published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation is the twelfth edition of its series and covers five core parameters - biodiversity, atmosphere, land/soil, water and human settlements. The Compendium of Environment Statistics 2011 is the twelfth edition of its series, which initially …
A study was carried out in village Mohamadabad, Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh to demonstrate the potential of high-resolution remote sensing data in generating soil resource database at village level that would facilitate natural resource developmental planning. For this study, detail soil resource database was generated by interpreting IRS Resourcesat-1 LISS-IV …
Answers to why dust storms are on the rise in East Asia. Over the past two decades there has been an increase in the outbreak of dust storms over East Asia. Large quantities of dust particles suspended in the air not only block the amount of sunlight reaching the earth, …
An indifferent parent, dithering states and a lethargic Centre have allowed Union Carbide’s deadly waste to poison the soil and groundwater in Bhopal Oliver Twist would feel for the 350 million tonnes of toxic chemicals still sitting inside the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal. In 1984, an accident at …
Traditional ecological knowledge has been established to have a bearing on natural resource management by the indigenous communities living in biodiversity rich North eastern hill region. The present study correlates the indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge in assessing the nutrient availability status of the agricultural soil as practiced by the …
Climate change factors such as elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and ozone (O3) can exert significant impacts on soil microbes and the ecosystem level processes they mediate. However, the underlying mechanisms by which soil microbes respond to these environmental changes remain poorly understood. The prevailing hypothesis, which states that CO2- …
Researchers must collaborate to manage one of the planet’s most precious and threatened resources — for food production and much more. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v474/n7350/full/474151a.html
The delay in setting up a permanent campus for IIT Mandi due to land unavailability will be a thing of the past. The Environment Ministry on Friday cleared the diversion of 308 acres of forest land for the IIT, which will specialise in
