a ban on growing trees, installing borewells and digging ponds on farms is giving sleepless nights to residents of 204 villages of Punjab. The ban is in view of a 610 km gas pipeline that would pass through the farms in three districts—Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib and Ropar. Digging work has …
A survey was made on certified organic farms in the country to ascertain the real benefits and feasibility of organic farming in terms of the production potential, economics and soil health in comparison to the conventional farms. The study revealed that organic farming, in spite of the reduction in crop …
An analysis of the Union Budget 2010-11 must take account of the fact that while expenditure on infrastructure is geared primarily towards meeting the long-term development needs of the business community, social welfare expenditure merely serves the purpose of immediate political gains of the parties in power.
The local farmers possess an immense knowledge of their environment. An effort was made to carryout a research on the conservation and testing of nitrogen effect over the location specific indigenous paddy varieties in purposively selected tribals Original Source
Although batch composting of manure is very common throughout China at both large and small scales, there is little experience with composting of human waste in urban centres. This project, the first on thermal composting of human faeces under indoor controlled conditions, took place in a highdensity urban setting in …
The politics and the underlying reasons behind the recovery of the Scandinavian wolf population are increasingly contested. According to official policy, wolves should be guaranteed a place in the Swedish natural world. However, the conflict over whether Sweden should host a wolf population sets views on biodiversity and sustainable development …
The field of study and analysis of water governance in river basins is still in its infancy. There are no well developed research designs and survey methodologies for conducting such a study. Thus the present attempt to study water governance in the Man river basin is of an exploratory nature. …
Livestock is a very important component for profitable farming as most of the agricultural by-products can be used to feed them converting them into manure immediately. Other economical gains are in the form of wool, milk, egg, meat and skin. In India, very good draught animals like bullocks and he …
The Central Statistical Organisation's advance estimate of a decline in the agricultural sector's output in 2009-10 by a mere 0.2% is a highly optimistic forecast. An analysis of the numbers in the latest estimates of foodgrain output and a comparison of output/GDP changes in the drought years of 2002-03 and …
During 1859-61, a large portion of colonial Bengal became a site of contest between the indigo peasants and English planters, with the Bengali bhadralok and British officialdom as important stakeholders. On the face of it, the Indigo movement was against the oppressive and unremunerative system of indigo cultivation. It was …
Here's a simple idea you may have heard for improving food security: Eat less meat. The logic goes like this. People in the developed world eat a huge amount of animal protein. And consumption of meat, eggs, and milk is already growing globally as people in poorer nations get richer …
The intricate, intertwined forces driving global climate change are mirrored by similar complexity in the human response to it. That makes it nearly impossible to anticipate the stance of any one group based solely on a label such as nationality, race, or economic class. But there is ample evidence that …
Despite its rich resources like forests and minerals, Bundelkhand is a region of distress and crisis. A study fi nds that the distress of the region simply cannot be explained by the absence or irregularity of rainfall. There are long-term structural problems which have had a cumulative effect over the …
Over the years many Big Ideas have been imposed on Africa from outside. The latest is that the region should sell or lease millions of hectares of land to foreign investors, who will bring resources and up-to-date technology. None of the blueprints has worked, and African farmers have become increasingly …
India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses in the world. However, pulses production has been stagnant at between 11 and 14 million tonnes over the last two decades. Per capita pulses consumption over the years has come down from 61gm/day in 1951 to 30 gm/day in 2008. This …
Climate change is leaving Ladakhis rather confused. This cold desert perched on the roof of the world is now warmer. There is more rain. Ladakhis are seeing these changes as a mixed blessing. Till some years ago Ladakh received merely 35 mm of rain. No farmer or household counted on …
J. Balaji NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha member and noted agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan has urged the media to give more importance to the agriculture sector to help it face another revolution on the lines of
Groundwater, which has emerged as India's prime adaptive mechanism in times of drought, will play a crucial role this year since the aquifers were recharged in 2006-08. The impact of the drought of 2009 will therefore be less severe than the drought of 2002. Beyond the immediate response, we need …
This paper examines the effectiveness of damage control mechanisms to reduce crop losses from agricultural pests. It uses data from a sample of Cole crop (Cauliflower and Cabbage) growing households in the Bhaktapur district of Nepal to study the impact of pesticides on agriculture production. The results suggest that the …
