Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of News item titled "the last feral horses in India" appearing in Mongabay dated 05.11.2024 dated 16/12/2024. The application was registered suo-motu on the basis of the news item titled "The Last Feral Horses in India" appearing in Mongabay dated November …
how has a tiny country like the Netherlands managed to become the world's third largest exporter of agricultural products? The answer to this also explains the ecological crisis Dutch agriculture confronts today: the intensive use of fertilisers and pesticides. Even though estimates drawn by the Centre for Energy-Saving and Clean …
jalshakti, a granular, free-flowing, organic product designed to improve plant-water relationship is a novel super absorbent polymer with an amazing ability to absorb and retain water about 150-200 times its weight. It is non-toxic, biodegradable, its properties do not vary between the temperature range of 20-70
Indian Agricultural Research Institute scientists have identified two fungus species that can convert chopped paddy straw into organic manure. As fodder for farm animals, straw has poor nutritive value. However, farmers can make the most out of it when it is converted into manure. The recipe: prepare a mixture of …
An innovative scheme that combines the latest biotechnology with traditional organic farming methods will be tried out in some villages in Pondicherry to improve the income levels of the landless, small and marginal farmers. The Rs 1.5 crore project, funded by the United Nations Development Programme, will be implemented by …
THE "do nothing" principle of natural farming has resulted in bounteous harvests for Bhaskar Save, whose 14-acre farm, Kalpavruksha, is located in Deheri village in Gujarat"s Valsad district. Three decades ago, Save abandoned chemical fertilisers, pesticides and heavy machinery. "Minimum interference with growth is called natural farming," says Save. "Trees …
EIGHTY-year-old Ganapathyrao Mhetre has a fondness for grapes. He is an avid collector of books and journals on grape cultivation. And since 1991, he has experimented with cultivating them organically. The idea of going organic occurred to Mhetre because the land around Tasgaon in Maharashtra's Sangli district, where he owns …
DESPITE the normally high prices of organic foods, there doesn't seem to be enough of it going around. Natu Bhai Shah, a sales representative, says that organic products -- bought mainly by "scientists and intellectuals" -- are invariably in short supply. Anil D Shah, chairperson of Mahajanam, a Bombay-based NGO …
EVERY day, a truck draws up to Jayanth V Barve's farm near Vite town in Sangli district and dumps about one tonne of municipal waste. Barve pays Rs 20 for the transportation and then his workers set out to transform the refuse into vermicompost, which is sold at Rs 2,600 …
BUSINESS firms are cashing in on earthworms. These burrowers of the soil are miniature factories of natural fertilisers. They consume organic waste and their excreta, known as worm-cast, is gaining popularity as fertiliser because unlike chemical fertilisers, they do not pollute the soil and water. One research study shows that …
THOUGH Indian farmers have practised sustainable farming for generations, the Union government has only now awakened to the need to promote ecofriendly, organic farming. In early January, the Union government announced an outlay of Rs 26 crore for organic farming during the remaining years of the eighth five-year plan (1992-97). …
How did you switch from mathematics to agriculture research? Since childhood, I was fond of growing crops and the yields were impressive. Kitchen garden and wasteland research gave me enough confidence to start experimenting with other crops. On the terrace of my house, I successfully raised sandal, which needs special …
FARMERS and agencies in many parts of the country are experimenting with organic farming-using natural products such as manure - because it is ecofriendly and because such farm products are gaining in popularity. But there is a dearth of literature on organic farming. The Centre for Science and Environment, involved …
The visit in mid-December of a delegation from the Japanese International Nature Farming Research Centre (INFRC), gave a big boost to organic farmers in India. The Japanese are proponents of a high-technology alternative -- the Effective Microorganism Method (EMM). INFRC president Teruo Higa explained EMM involves the use of cultures …
INDIAN farmers are cashing in on the Western fad for organically produced food. But before organic farmers can start dreaming of the greenback, it is virtually essential for their produce to get international accreditation or recognition. Kurunji Organic Food India Pvt Ltd (KOFIL), a Tamil Nadu-based agency, was the first …
A PLAN to reward UK farmers switching to organic methods has been criticised for not recognising those already practising organic farming. Under the five-year scheme, the government will pay British farmers who convert to organic methods $104.16 a hectare initially, reducing this to $37.2 a hectare in the last year. …
A BARREN hillock in Agali village in Kerala's Palakkad district is now verdant with forests worth lakhs of rupees, as a result of natural farming -- farming without any external inputs -- by two school-teachers, Vijayalakshmi and Balakrishnan. They have made 8 ha of degraded land cultivable through mulching, water …
THE EXPERIENCE of Kudumbam, a voluntary organisation based in Tamil Nadu's Pudukottai district, shows organic farming is more readily accepted by villagers when propagated by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) than by individual farmers. Kudumbam disseminates knowledge on organic farming through its Tamil monthly, Pasuthalir. With the help of the local …
Simultaneous cultivation of several crops , using organic manures and pesticides, can raise productivity, says Karnataka's L Narayana Reddy. CATTLE urine fights pests such as white flies far more effectively than chemicals such as malathion; besides, dung manure doesn't lower paddy productivity, says organic farmer L Narayana Reddy, of Sorhanese …
THE FUNDAMENTAL theme of organic farming or natural farming is its ecological approach: It makes maximum possible use of organic wastes, originating from the farm, to keep up soil fertility. The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), which has 360 member organisations in more than 65 countries, unites their …
TWO FILMS made by Krishnendu Bose and sponsored by INTACH, which were shown in New Delhi recently, make a pointed and absorbing examination of a current agricultural dilemma -- how do you achieve productivity without paying the ecological price of the Green Revolution? The films attempt to go beyond the …
