Reply affidavit on behalf of the Central Ground Water Board in the matter of Suo Moto case titled "Haryana 60.48% groundwater over exploited Kurukshetra worst Jhajjar best says" appearing in the Tribune, January 8, 2025. The CGWA report, May 3, 2025 addresses the issue of groundwater exploitation and violation of …
From wildlife ecology and conservation biology to behavioural endocrinology, environmental policy and conservation planning, it has been a long journey for Tatjana Good to pursue her academic interests. A voyage that has taken her around the world, from the U.S. and Switzerland where she grew up, to Australia and India. …
BIOTECH companies in the agriculture sector have taken to a publicity blaze in recent months, splashing advertisements that extol the “inherent safety” of genetically modified (GM) crops along with organising a series of farmer meets and press conferences aimed at promoting transgenic technology as the “powerful and safe” way to …
FEW laws have been embraced as wholeheartedly by industry as BRAI or the Biotech Regulatory Authority of India Bill, 2011. Yet to be introduced in Lok Sabha, following a last-minute hitch, the proposed law has received the full support of the Association of Biotech Led Enterprises (ABLE) and other leading …
On his focus areas as chairperson of Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) I would like to focus on building capacity in developing and least developed countries. Most of them do not understand the Codex document, what it contains and what is there between the lines. So, they do not know how …
The residents of Bamni were fed up with the constant feud between two farmers in their village. Their quarrels, which often came to fisticuffs, went on day and night, at home and in the farms, for years. Occasionally their neighbours had to rush them to a doctor after they had …
“My major work on the farm is just picking the harvest,” says Raghava with a straight face. It takes some time for the fact to sink in that this young farmer is not joking. One begins to believe him only after visiting his coconut plantation in village Mallanayakanahalli in Karnataka’s …
Most of us detest weeds. They have a tendency to pop up at the wrong place at the wrong time. They have extraordinary genetic pluck that enables them to take astonishing levels of abuse and rough treatment—the harder the better. Plantain likes to be trodden underfoot. Danish scurvy-grass thrives on …
INDIA’S ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY, VOLUMES 1 AND 2, Edited by Mahesh Rangarajan and K Sivaramakrishnan, Permanent Black, Rs 1,850 This reader brings together some of the most interesting writings on India’s ecological pasts. Volume 1 has essays that range from prehistoric India to the middle of the 19th century. Volume 2 …
ABOUT 30,000 farmers in Maharashtra are feeling cheated. The soybean seeds they had purchased from the state seed corporation, Mahabeej, failed to germinate this season. Over 40,000 hectares (ha) of farms in seven districts have been affected. Mahabeej has 45 per cent share in the soy seed business in the …
New paddy varieties have been developed by the Bathalagoda Rice Research and Development Institute (BRRDI) to meet the fast changing climatic conditions of the country. This was revealed by BRRDI Director Nimal Dissanayake. He said the BRRDI had developed a 2½-month variety of rice which could yield five tons per …
In the lush forested uplands of Koraput, Domu Matpadia, a Paraja tribeswoman, is coming face to face with modern farm technology. A representative of Charoen Pokphand, a Thai agribusiness multinational, is telling her how to grow its hybrid maize seeds that the state government has given her free along with …
When representatives of the world’s largest seed company, Monsanto, began to make discreet visits to the second floor offices of the inconspicuous Van Bandhu Kalyaan Yojana in the Gandhinagar headquarters of the Gujarat government in 2007, it set in motion a process that would transform Indian agriculture in unexpected and …
Are hybrids always a precursor to a genetically modified (GM) version of the crop? In the case of maize, both the champions of GM and the opposition believe GM maize is round the corner. Currently, four multinationals are conducting field trials of GM maize in India. Monsanto India Ltd is …
In 1532, the Spanish forces led by Francisco Pizarro routed the Inca army at Cajamarca in the northern highlands of Peru, bringing to an end South America’s biggest empire. The Spanish conquistador marched to the Inca capital Cusco in regalia, but claimed the Spaniards were restrained in their show of …
This report analyzes the political economy of two important fields of agricultural policy in India: fertilizer supply and electricity supply for groundwater irrigation. These inputs are essential to food production and agricultural development, which have been core areas of concern for policymakers in India since Independence. Following the food shortages …
Cotton has been the biggest success story in Indian agriculture since the Green Revolution. In a country struggling with stagnant yields in most crops, cotton has been the one bright spot. Production has soared from 13.6 million bales (each bale is 170 kg) in 2002-03 to 31.2 million bales in …
It’s been more than seven months. Farmer representatives from 12 villages in Nawalgarh are on a sit-in protest outside the sub-divisional magistrate’s office. Their demand: do not give our fertile land to industry. Three cement giants are eyeing this limestone-rich area in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan. Limestone is the prime …
COCONUT trees are found across the world and it is said that they played a fundamental role in human migrations and the development of civilisations. So far, nobody has studied the genetic variability in the tree. Now a study of the DNA shows that coconuts have two well-defined and differentiated …
The World Intellectual Property Organization has announced clearly that it intends to play a role—and considering the clout WIPO enjoys it implies a significant part—in promoting intellectual property (IP) in agriculture to enhance productivity. The UN body stepped into this touchy arena with a seminar at its Geneva headquarters that …
NANDAN Nilekani has just submitted his report on how the Centre should give direct fertiliser subsidy to farmers, but Odisha has already rolled out a scheme to reimburse maize farmers their cost of fertiliser. This will benefit about 45,000 farmers picked for a special maize scheme. Under the scheme, the …
