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 …
The Sugarcane Breeding Institute has developed transgenic sugarcane incorporating gene constructs, said its Director, Dr N. Vijayan Nair. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Sugarcane Breeding Institute-Indian Sugar Industry: National Interactive Workshop, Dr Nair said that it would take several years before the transgenic cane is released and commercialised. …
A biofuels company set up in Brazil by oil giant Shell has signed a landmark agreement giving up plans to buy sugar cane grown on indigenous lands. The company, Raizen, was obtaining some of the raw material for ethanol from farmers who encroached on the lands of the Guarani people …
There are ways to clean heavy-metal-polluted soil, according scientists that attended a two-day forum in Beijing that ended Thursday. A total of 300 soil scientists and ecology experts attended the 2012 Forum on Heavy Metal Soil Remediation and Ecological Restoration. Chen Tongbin, researcher with Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural …
Large-scale crop plantations are expanding at a rapid pace across southeast Asia, with multinational firms often benefiting the most at the expense of local communities and the environment, two U.N. rights experts warned on Wednesday. Demand for agrofuels, such as those derived from sugar cane and palm oil, has boomed …
After a decade of promise, advanced biofuels makers are entering a crucial make-or-break period with the first of a new generation of production facilities about to come on line. The new facilities are designed to take biofuels beyond corn-based ethanol and begin to shift the industry to "advanced" fuels made …
After a decade of promise, advanced biofuels makers are entering a crucial make-or-break period with the first of a new generation of production facilities about to come on line. The new facilities are designed to take biofuels beyond corn-based ethanol and begin to shift the industry to "advanced" fuels made …
The United Nation Economic and Social Survey of Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) has projected the economy of Pakistan to grow by 4 per cent during the year 2012. According to a report launched by ESCAP on Thursday, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Pakistan is projected to grow by 4 …
The growing cultivation of Bacillus Thuringiensis (BT) cotton, especially in Punjab, has decreased the area under wheat and sugarcane cultivation due to relatively longer germination period of BT cotton. "BT cotton is gaining popularity in Punjab and its growing cultivation is having a negative impact on other crops particularly wheat …
Ahead of the presidential elections NCP chief and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday got his way, with the government yielding to most of his demands regarding export policies for agricultural items. Early last month, the key UPA ally had shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to …
Ministry proposes four options to the EGoM to expedite shipment of sweetener. Union food ministry has suggested four options to expedite sugar exports after the panel of ministers on food sought a mechanism that allows faster shipments. “We will present all the four options before the Empowered Group of Ministers …
Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Iogen Corp have scrapped plans for a commercial-scale biofuel plant in Manitoba, spelling the loss of 150 jobs and raising questions about widespread and near-term use of fuel made from agricultural waste in Canada. The Iogen Energy joint venture had been studying building a plant …
In the developing world climate change has far more ramifications than can be addressed by controlling just carbon emissions. The developed world has stable populations and landscapes, and is thus affected mainly by the air which spreads democratically without boundaries. On the other hand, the developing world with increasing populations …
NEW DELHI, 24 APRIL: The Union finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, has asked the sugar industry to use the latest technology for enhancing production and productivity. He said sugar plays a very significant role in India’s agricultural and industrial economy. Being one of the largest agro-based industries in India, sugar …
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh is heading for a record sugar production this year. According to Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), the state has produced 69.40 lakh tonnes of sugar which is about 18% higher than the previous year. The recovery of sugar from cane has been around 9.07%. Seven sugar mills, …
The Government has launched an integrated centre which will provide estimates of crop output and assess the drought situation in the country through latest technologies. The Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, today launched the National Crop Forecast Centre, which will prepare in-season forecasts for major crops such as rice, wheat, …
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu government is working towards producing around 183 MW of electricity from bagasse acquired from 12 sugar mills in the state from February next, State Industries Minister P Thangamani said today. He was replying to a question from K Alaguvelu (AIADMK) in the state assembly. Alaguvelu had asked …
Recent years have seen ‘land grabbing’ emerge as a big issue in media houses across the world, with reporters quick to write about deals involving millions of hectares, particularly within Africa. Yet large-scale land acquisitions are not a purely African phenomenon. Other parts of the world are also subject to …
This policy paper addresses the rapidly evolving energy sector of India and the growth of first-generation biofuels as an alternative to fossil-based transportation fuels. The paper assesses the broad ramifications of the rapid and large–scale development of biofuels in India with the objective of identifying production potential and constraints to …
The Statistical Book 2011 of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reveals that Pakistan is way behind in wheat, rice, sugarcane and pulses production, both globally and regionally. According to experts, water shortage, absence of high yield verities of seeds, and lack of research and development are the …
Sugarcane-based electricity generation projects in Brazil are being blown out of the water by wind power and other lower-cost energy alternatives, slowing ambitions to expand one of Brazil's largest potential new sources of clean energy, experts said. The world's No. 1 sugar producer and No. 2 ethanol maker amasses 140 …
