Livestock Census is a regular quinquennial exercise of Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD). The first Livestock Census was conducted in the year 1919 and last census i.e. 20th Livestock Census was conducted in 2019. The 21st Livestock Census exercise has been launched across the country on 25th October, …
Soybean is a native of China. The cultivated soybean (Glycine max) originated from its wild ancestor Glycine ussuriensis, which is presently known as Glycine soja. The crop is known for its high food value from centuries. Soybean was migrated from China to neighboring countries with the development of sea and …
The cultivation and use of brinjal (eggplant/aubergine) is of great antiquity. It is from India, as philological studies indicate, that brinjal moved to West Asia and Europe. The different regions of India offer a diversity of accounts, documented as part of history, of the availability of brinjal and ancient food …
On 5 June 2008, an authorized, small-scale field trial of transgenic potato plants for nematode control was destroyed by people seeking to coerce government and society. It was one of only two trials authorized in the United Kingdom this year. Our concern is that Directive 2001/18/EC, the European Union (EU) …
Safe and sufficient food production is an important issue in India. Development of improved varieties by modern plant breeding is crucial. Nowadays, GM (genetically modified) varieties are emerging as a strong tool and promise.
A recent study has shown that GM crops are less productive than conventional varieties. The study undermines the claims made by the pro-GM lobby of higher returns through GM crops. A three-year-long study conducted at the University of Kansas showed that GM soya productions were about 10 per cent less …
This was not a sudden crisis. It may be only this spring that food prices have started sparking riots on the streets of Haiti and Egypt, not to mention rice rationing at Wal-Mart's cash-and-carry stores, but food prices have been rising since 2000. The rises accelerated in 2006, when global …
Farmers in Bangladesh, an agriculture-driven economy, are in for an era of dependency on hybrid seeds. Following a large-scale destruction of the country's paddy crops in the previous season, the government has decided to promote hybrid rice in a big way. Farmers growing hybrid varieties cannot use inbred seeds from …
concerns over a possible attack of Ug99 on wheat crops in Pakistan is soaring high. But officials in the country have said the globetrotting infectious wheat fungus has not reached croplands there. "There is no such threat now as harvesting has already begun in Sindh and Punjab provinces. However, if …
Global food prices have witnessed an unprecedented surge in recent months. The increase in prices, which initially started with corn and wheat, has now engulfed all cereals, and vegetable oils, meat, milk and most fruits and vegetables. The food price index (base 2005=100) of the International Monetary Fund, which covers …
Decline in national wheat productivity, and stagnation of yield in the national Advanced Varietal Trials in the past decade are partly attributed to high temperature stress during the period of grain-filling. In view of the predicted global warming, terminal heat stress is likely to increase.
The habitat loss, increasing air pollution, changes in the microclimatic conditions and uncontrolled harvest have become the major detrimental factors for lichen diversity in India. Propagation of lichens by means of tissue culture method proved to be uneconomical and their re-introduction into the field has been unsuccessful. Hence declaring lichen-rich …
If there is an example of a silver bullet among genetically modified (GM) crops, it would be virus-resistant papaya trees. They saved the papaya industry in Hawaii from devastation by the ringspot virus, a serious pathogen that deforms fruit and eventually kills conventional trees.
More than a billion acres have been planted with genetically engineered crops in the USA since 1996, but we do not fully know their ecological costs and benefits.
Demand for plant products has never been greater, more people, rising affluence, and expanding biofuels programs are rapidly pushing up the prices of grain and edible oil. Boosting supply isn't easy: All the best farm land is already in use. There's an acute need for another jump in global agricultural …
Scientists with the European Space Agency have shown that plants and flowers can be grown on the Moon by demonstrating that marigolds can grow in crushed rock very much like the lunar surface, with no need for plant food. According to a report by BBC News, the new research was …
The International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) brought together governments, internatonal organizations and private sector and civil society organizations to address the challenges of food security, food supply, food prices. The task was to assess the current state and future potential of formal and informal knowledge, …
wheat fungi may have reached pakistan: A fungus, deadly for wheat, may have reached Pakistan two years earlier than predicted, said researchers at a recent meeting in Syria. The meeting was to decide on emergency measures to track the progress of the fungus, Ug99, which is a virulent strain of …
Four years ago, the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) was born. This ground-breaking exercise brought together government, non-governmental organisations and industry representatives, including Syngenta, to assess world agriculture. Potential authors were nominated and selected - and I was among them. All the authors were expected …