As climate change intensifies, it is imperative for policymakers to address the escalating loss and damage it inflicts on vulnerable communities in developing countries. In India's Maharashtra state, these impacts are forcing rural families into life-altering decisions and migrations to work in sugarcane fields, where exploitative practices by contractors, including …
More than six months after the Rangarajan panel recommended deregulating the R80,000-crore sugar sector, at least one state has initiated reforms in cane pricing. The Karnataka government has passed a Bill that seeks to link the price of cane with its byproducts, including sugar. “Although a specific formula is yet …
This has reference to the excellent article entitled “Cauvery Dispute: A Lament and a Proposal” (EPW, 30 March 2013) by Ramaswamy R Iyer on the history, complex dynamics and current status of the Cauvery River dispute. I run a conservation foundation in Bangalore and, as much of our work is …
No animal, not even the snake, attracts more bad press than the leopard. The worst victim of poaching in India, it is also the biggest killer of people among all large carnivores. The leopard’s prey preference for smaller livestock and dogs draws it close to habitations. The result is nationwide …
This year’s drought cannot be called worse than the one in 1972: SANDRP While the Maharashtra government is crying hoarse about this year’s drought surpassing the one in 1972 and farmers are cutting off their crops and digging deeper than ever for water, an analysis based on rainfall patterns blames …
Recent crop harvesting practices use mechanical harvesters in the rice and wheat farm system in India. These practices leave behind large quantities of crop residue in the field. However, there is no suitable method available for managing the crop residues. Crop residues / biomass burning are cheap and easiest method …
A large part of Maharashtra has been declared drought-hit. But distribution of water is quite incongruous. While the few who are politically and financially powerful take the lion’s share for sugarcane crops, thermal plants and other industries, the rest are struggling to survive. Read More: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/drought-equity
New Delhi: Most people think of leopards as predators that live in forests except for a few that occasionally stray into human settlements. Breaking that myth, a new study has found that a large number of these big cats may be residing in human habitats, quietly sharing space with people …
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today announced relief for agriculturists using tubewells in Bhiwani district. Hooda was addressing representatives of the Bhartiya Kisan Union and farmers of the area who had called upon him at his residence here today. Hooda said the consumers having motors with capacity between 12.5 …
The global emergence of biofuels over the last two decades has been met with increased concerns over climate change and sustainable development. This report addresses the core issue of biofuel sustainability and related feedstocks, drawing from a wide range of studies, reports and policy initiatives. The report critically examines the …
Water tangle: Agro-climatic condition in seven districts in Cauvery basin likely to change The entire agro-climatic condition in the Cauvery basin area covering seven districts of Karnataka is likely to undergo a change if the contentious final award of the Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal (CRDT) is implemented in toto. …
Lucknow: With a total of Rs 17,174 crore allocated for agriculture and allied sectors, UP budget-2013 is all set to shower some bounty on Uttar Pradesh’s farm sector. Last year, when chief minister Akhilesh Yadav presented the state budget, he made provisions for farmer loan waivers worth Rs 500 crore. …
Minister for Water and Power Ch Ahmed Mukhtar on Thursday approved the Draft National Policy for co-generation by utilising bagasse and Biomass and asked the ministry to submit it to the relevant forum for formal approval. He said this while presiding over a meeting on fast track development of bagasse …
Corn ethanol would get a larger share of the U.S. gasoline market under a government proposal on Thursday while ranchers, environmentalists and the oil industry aim to kill the renewable fuels mandate altogether. The Obama administration proposed a 9 percent increase in the so-called renewable fuels standard from 2012, in …
ISLAMABAD: Around 3,000 megawatts (MW) cheaper electricity would be generated through sugarcane bagasse on fast track basis and investors would be facilitated and encouraged. Minister for Water and Power Ahmed Mukhtar said necessary amendments would also be made in the existing co-generation and Renewable Energy policies to make it simplified …
CUTTACK: To improve the economic condition of farmers, the district administration has been encouraging them take up soyabean cultivation. And the efforts have yielded desired results with 300 farmers cultivating soyabean in 550 acre in the district. District agriculture officers claim soyabean cultivation ensures lucrative returns with less input for …
“Land acquisition is becoming a bane of farmers in Haryana as the land is allegedly acquired to give benefit to brokers in most of the cases and the poor farmer is the scapegoat," former spokesperson of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee Ved Prakash Virodhi today said. Stressing that the land …
'This year, due to drought conditions, the production estimate was lowered to 520 mn litres. Nearly 500,000 litres of water is required per distillery per day' Distilleries in Maharashtra face a severe cutback in operations and ethanol output due to the state’s severe water shortage. Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, president of the …
“Where there is a will, there is a way”, goes the adage. It has come true in case of farmers of Krishna belt in Bagalkot district. The farmers in Jamkhandi taluk, suffering huge losses due to the shortage of water to the sugarcane crop, have come together and completed within …
Many industrial units functioning near Kalingarayan Canal Farmers in the Kalingarayan ayacut areas in the district are now forced to use water from Kalingarayan Canal that is mixed with untreated effluents and waste water discharged by textile processing and tannery units. The Public Works Department stopped on December 20 the …
Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative, SSI, an innovative set of agronomic practices, that leaves reduced ecological footprint, is catching up very fast among the sugarcane growers in India. The SSI will most likely become the standard planting method owing to its yield advantage, reduced use of water and other inputs. Coordinated efforts …
