IT IS the prime ingredient of fertilisers that help sustain one-third of the world’s population. Though it is commonly released as a pungent gas from decomposing organic matter, harnessing ammonia from nature requires an intensive industrial procedure. Industry has been following a century- old Haber-Bosch process to produce ammonia, which …
ON NOVEMBER 18, there was a dust-up between farmers and fishers at Murthikuppam in Puducherry’s Bahour Commune over who would get to talk to the environment ministry’s representative visiting the area. The representative from the ministry’s Bengaluru regional office, U Sridharan, was there to seek views on the partially constructed …
A BACTERIUM, which the biotech industry uses as a vehicle to insert foreign genes in plants, can alter the genetic makeup of other life forms like fungi in the environment, shows a research by UK scientists. This is a way, apart from cross pollination, modified genes could escape into the …
SOIL constantly undergoes changes—be it by growing crops, adding fertilizer, erosion or contamination. Scientists analyse as many as 50 properties of soil—including sand and organic carbon content, porosity and essential nutrients like nitrogen and iron—to monitor its health and predict if the land is on the verge of degradation by …
ABOUT 100 farmers in Karnataka destroyed a paddy field where multinational seed major DuPont was conducting field trials for genetically modified (GM) rice in collaboration with University of Agricultural Sciences Bangalore. The police have arrested 12 farmers for vandalism and trespassing. The trial was on about a hectare field at …
IT HAS been drafted several times in the past six years. The Union agriculture ministry is confident the seeds bill will make it through Parliament this winter session. But opposition parties, and some MPs from the ruling Congress Party, are getting ready to corner the ministry over legislation. The Seeds …
The new nutrient-based fertiliser subsidy policy provides implicit incentives to farmers to test soil samples regularly and get crop-wise recommended doses of nutrients, and offers prospective benefits from the agro-environmental management point of view. A study of six villages in the lower Bhavani Basin in Tamil Nadu reveals that despite …
The post WTO policy reforms in the field of agricultural trade induced changes in the institutional and market conditions that led to the entry of the private sector in agribusiness and brought a shift in the relative position of different players in the market. It has created sharp discontinuities in …
WHILE harnessing wind energy could satisfy growing demand for electricity and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, turbulence from wind turbines could affect the growth of surrounding crops, US researchers said. Led by atmospheric sciences professor at University of Illinois, Somnath Baidya Roy, the researchers suggest careful placement of windfarms. Roy …
MARINE biologists had almost given up hope of saving the green sea turtle in the 1980s following an uptick in a tumourcausing disease among the endangered species. They thought the deadly condition might drive the largest hard-shelled sea turtle to extinction. “But that did not happen for a variety of …
It was 3 pm. I was on top of a mountain in the middle of the only green expanse in the cold desert in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh. For the last 50 km I saw only mountains of stones and sand, and I would see only desert for the …
Oil wells fitted with pumping devices are a common sight in Mehsana district, north of Ahmedabad. For the state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) the district is the most prized onshore oil asset in India, producing about 40,000 barrels crude oil a day. But for farmers the wells spell …
There is no doubt US President Barack Obama was in India on a business trip. His recent electoral losses weighed heavily with him when he stitched up deals, reportedly worth US $10 billion, that would create about 50,000 jobs back home. His visit and the sweetener of support for India’s …
Cause for worry for India Share of total employment in agriculture decreased from 63.3 per cent to 55.7 per cent between 1995 and 2008 Share of employment in industry increased marginally from 11.2 per cent to 12.8 per cent between 1995 and 2008 Share of employment in the services sector …
Rs 20-lakh project to encourage cultivation of jasmine, betel leaves and banana with GI tags Brand crops Special varieties of jasmine, betel leaves and banana grown in Mysore region. dh photoThe Horticulture Department has initiated measures to boost cultivation of
IN AN unprecedented step, Rajasthan has entered into memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with seven biotech seed firms, two of them among the largest in the world, to tone up its agriculture. It signals a fundamental shift in the way farming operates in India by giving private companies access to the …
COME winters, farmers in 50 districts of the country will be covered by an experimental crop insurance scheme by the Centre. The new scheme is a modified version of the current programme with new features like providing indemnity and advance relief to farmers. The unit area for the new insurance …
The recent news items on the loss of stored grains in the godowns of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) created a huge uproar not only due to the wastage of grains but also because it was the time when the Government was planning the National Food Security Act amidst …
When six of India’s top scientific academies were asked by Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh in March to assess the feasibility and safety of genetically modified (GM) crops and their regulation, it was expected their evaluation would help resolve the highly contentious question of growing GM food …
OZONE is harmful not only to human beings but also to plants. Modern bread wheat, Triticum aestivum, which is the staple diet of a majority of the world populace, is an ozone-sensitive crop. Studies carried out between 1980 and 2007 show that ozone ranging between 30 and 200 parts per …
