CEOs need to accelerate their action plans to safeguard the production of commodities critical to the global population and economy as heat stress and drought risk rise around the world, according to PwC's report, Climate Risks to Nine Key Commodities: Protecting People and Prosperity, published. The report, which analysed nine …
Over the next 50 years, harvests of staple crops like rice, maize and wheat may be reduced by one- third due to global warming. This has been revealed by a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report published recently. The document brings to the fore the fact that rising temperature adversely …
In 1997, the Texas-based company, RiceTec's patent number 5663484 had, , made 20 claims on three new Basmati rice lines that were drawn from basmati varieties grown traditionally in Pakistan. In the court case against the patent, 15 of them were dismissed. But these aren't the only cases being fought …
Basmati's aroma has swept the Europeans off their feet. The European Union (EU) allows basmati varieties originating only from Pakistan and India to be imported and sold as basmati. But, EU's rice import policy depends upon its own farmers producing rice that it has to subsidise by paying an intervention …
Pakistan, claim some experts, is where basmati originated. Today Pakistan is the other big player in the international basmati trade. Two players and a huge playground - that's the story of basmati. And the two players can develop policies and strategies to maintain their niche. Though, in this high stakes …
How does vitamin A rice help solve poverty and malnutrition in developing countries? People whose staple diet is rice usually suffer from vitamin deficiencies. In Bangladesh, for instance, 75 per cent of the calories come from rice. Similarly, in countries like Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, rice accounts for 70 per …
india will conduct research on developing Golden Rice, a genetically modified ( gm ) variety of rice. "The Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Madurai Kamraj University and University of Delhi will jointly undertake the task of inserting modified genes of Golden Rice into the Indian varieties,' says Manju Sharma, secretary of …
G lobal trade in coarse grains in 1995 was to the magnitude of about 132 metric tonnes (mt) and is projected to rise to 175 mt by 2005. About 80-85 per cent of this export originates from industria lised countries, where coarse grains are cultivated for animal feed. In Japan, …
That they are called coarse grains summarises their present status in Indian society. Go anywhere in the country, and you will see a marked inferiority accorded to
In India, over 18 per cent of the children suffer from vitamin A deficiency (VAD). Ingo Potrykus, professor emeritus from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, claims to have a solution. Potrykus had read a World Health Organisation (WHO) report that stated that 230 million children are at risk of …
wide variations of nitrous oxide (n2o) emissions over varying areas and time periods make estimation a tough proposition. A study published in Current Science (Vol 79, No 10) says n2o emissions from soils used for different crops and in different seasons in India can have wide variations. n2o is a …
The Lucknow high court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to purchase all the paddy crops grown in the state within the next two and a half months. The state's paddy growers are on the verge of starvation as they have not been able to find buyers for their produce. …
the Food Corporation of India ( fci ), the official procurement agency of the government of India, has rejected about 80 per cent of paddy from Punjab on the grounds that it was substandard. However, under pressure from the farmer's lobby, the government has relaxed the paddy procurement laws. The …
finally one can see some action. A lot has been said about the falling agricultural productivity in the Indo-Gangetic Plains ( igp). An inititative is on to check the decline in yields of rice and wheat in the area. 12 million hectares of igp includes parts of Bangladesh, India, Nepal …
China scores high on the front of organic matter recycling and developing hybrid varieties of rice. Zheng Jiaguo, professor at the Crop Research Institute at the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Sichuan, China, says, "We have increased the rice yield by cultivating hybrid varieties. India should also look to increase …
friendly plastic: A new plastic made from plant sugar will be soon introduced in the market. The plastic called NatureWorks PLA is being manufactured by Cargill Dow Polymers, a Nebraska-based company. Unlike conventional plastic, NatureWorks can break down in a compost pile if subjected to the right combination of heat …
