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 …
spores of a new variety of black stem rust may reach India from Uganda and hit most of the wheat crop soon. The alarm was raised by the international crop protection body Global Rust Initiative (gri) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, better known by its Spanish acronym …
It can be said that Union budget, 2007, is high on symbolism and intent. Most people in and close to power acknowledge that something is spoiling booming India's party: price rise, agricultural decay, poverty, mainly. This budget, says finance minister P Chidambaram, is the government's way to fix these problems …
a new form of stem rust, a fungal disease of wheat, which has jumped from eastern Africa to Yemen, may affect the Indian wheat population in the next four years. Scientists are concerned but the good news is that some Indian varieties have been identified, which are resistant to the …
A virulent wheat disease now threatens the world's wheat crops. According to reports of various international agricultural research centres, this stem rust, known as ug99, has already spread from Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda over the Red Sea to the Arabian Peninsula. Studies of wind patterns in the region have led …
The large agrarian population of West Bengal drink groundwater with arsenic content anywhere between 0.05 and 3.7 mg/L. Greater than 44% of this population suffers from arsenic related diseases like conjunctivitis, melanosis, hyperkeratosis, and hyper pigmentation. In certain areas gangrene in the limb, malignant neoplasm and even skin cancer have …
staple switch: The Sri Lankan government is now busy promoting the country's own staple food among its people. It feels that Sri Lankans are getting used to consuming large amounts of imported wheat flour, although rice is their staple food. As a result, the country's paddy farmers cannot sell their …
there are conflicting claims over the distribution of water of the Rajsamand Lake by residents of Rajnagar township in Rajasthan and the farmers there. The conflict began after the Water Distribution Committee of the lake decided to distribute water in a manner that did not go down well with the …
Mango is a widely spaced fruit tree comprising a good number of commercial varieties. Mango fruit crop provides opportunities of utilizing the land spaces to its maximum, particularly during the initial years of establishment. Thus, an attempt was made to study the effect of mango varieties on the yield of …
food and environmental safety in the country has been stoked with the centre's decision to ease the quarantine norms for 5.5 million tonnes of imported wheat. The first tender for this was released on February 20 this year; the latest on September 5. Three union ministries have bent rules to …
This study provides an account of the agriculture crop residue burning in Punjab during wheat and rice crop growing periods. Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS-P6) Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) data during May and October 2005 have been analysed for estimating the extent of burnt areas and thereby greenhouse gas …
short of gunnybags: The shortage of gunny bags at government wheat procurement centres in several districts of Pakistan has forced farmers to sell their produce to private buyers below the support price. The rates of wheat dropped from Rs 425 to Rs 380 in the open market after the government …
Wheat industry watchers have been perplexed ever since Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar decided to start importing wheat early this year despite the fact that stocks were still over the buffer level and procurement was to begin in April. A Down To Earth investigation points to the involvement of the …
union minister of agriculture Sharad Pawar's declaration that India will be importing wheat is a symptomatic of the gross food mismanagement currently prevalent in India. The decision to import coming after a seven-year production high raises an obvious question what happened to the overflowing granaries of India? Just three years …
At present the average daily turnover of 23 commodity exchanges put together barely crosses Rs 8,000-9,000 crore. Of this the share of fine cereal grains (wheat and rice) is insignificant, ranging below Rs 30 crore per day. The entry of Food Corporation of India (fci) can increase its volume 20 …
the maladies of India's wheat economy were laid bare on June 09, 2005, by Union ministry of consumer affairs and public distribution (mcapd) food secretary S K Tuteja, who confirmed that the country "would not hesitate to import wheat' to sustain its public distribution system (pds) and buffer stock needs. …
the recent arrest of four employees of Indian Tobacco Company (itc)'s e-Choupal (rural mart) in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh (up), brought itc 's grain trade in the town to a standstill for 10 days. Officials in the civil supplies department seized 48,475 one-quintal bags of wheat, alleging a breach of procurement …
the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (cag) recently unearthed a Rs 2,125 crore scam involving the Food Corporation of India (fci), under the Union ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution (mocafpd). cag has charged both fci and the ministry with unduly favouring foodgrain exporters in fixing the …
us scientists who developed a microbial fuel cell (mfc) to simultaneously clean wastewater and produce electricity, have now altered the cell to produce almost four times as much hydrogen directly out of biomass than can be generated typically by fermentation alone. Hydrogen can be used as a clean fuel. In …
the use of combine harvesters in India for rice and wheat is generating millions of tonnes of crop residue every year. To dispose the waste, farmers usually burn it. This causes significant loss of nutrients in the soil and destroys its microbes, besides adding to greenhouse emissions, a study by …
