The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
THERE are several diseases that are associated with the consumption of mycotoxin contaminated food and feed. Mycotoxin, a toxic substance produced by fungi, can pass through the foodchain through a variety of plant products like cereals, corn, beans, rice and apples as also into animal products such as milk or …
The human population in the world has crossed the six billion mark. With this the environmental cost of foodgrain production is rising and this is putting additional pressure on natural resources. Interestingly, though the irrigated area per person has increased, the global grain harvested area* per person is shrinking. This …
china will soon have to import foodgrain to meet the demand of its growing population. For the past 20 years, grain production in China has averaged 98.6 per cent of the demand, mainly due to its traditional policy of self-sufficiency. But this has come at a high financial and environmental …
The Bangladesh government has banned the import of vetch, a toxic grain marketed as lentil, according to an official announcement. The ban came following press reports that vetch, which looks like the pulse masoor , is toxic and can impair vision and affect human tissues. The item was being imported, …
as a twelve-year-old, Gurdev Singh Hira, now a senior soil physicist at the Punjab Agricultural University ( pau ) in Ludhiana, saw the water in his well rise so fast that he could touch it with his hands. But as he grew up the water level went down to such …
a drought in the Kashmir valley has caught the government unawares. Usually susceptible to floods, the catastrophic management of this area has always focussed on floods. According to the state agriculture department, out of a total 165,000 hectares (ha) under paddy cultivation in the valley, 60,000 ha have been affected …
Can foodgrain production in India be increased further? I see no reason why foodgrain production in the country cannot be increased. To think that only Punjab represents the entire country, is wrong. In many areas foodgrain production can be increased by using increased inputs, like fertilisers. We tend to compare …
Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth. In this case, the meek dosa and the meek samosa may hold the key to the future of food security in the world. It is, therefore, time to dislodge the burger and make it give way to its humble cousins
For the first time, genetically-modified grain has been grown commercially in South Africa and will be sold in the market mixed with other grains, a leading seed-seller said. "Up to 50,000 hectares of genetically-modified maize has been planted this season and will be sold in the commercial market,' he said. …
As of 1997, the world consumes five million tonnes of grain daily. To feed the world's human population of almost 5.8 billion - growing by 80 million people a year - production of foodgrains, including wheat, rice, corn and barley, has to increase by 26 million tonnes annually. However, grain …
India's foodgrain production is likely to cross the 200 million tonne mark this year. Barring certain areas in Himachal Pradesh and Bihar, which were hit by cloudburst, the country on the whole had a good rainfall. The Union agricultural minister, Chaturanan Mishra said that in order to increase production, more …
even though agricultural yields are increasing, famine and drought continue to haunt the Third World and the chief victims of hunger are women. Poverty, patriarchy and exclusion from political power have taken their toll on longevity among women. The shortened lives of rural women in countries like India illustrate the …
LATE-BLIGHT, a fungus that destroys potatoes, which had been neutralised decades back, may play havoc with crops in Europe once again. Researchers in southwest Scotland are about to infect a crop of potato hybrids with late-blight to see whether they can resist the disease. (New Scientist, Vol 154, No 2079) …
A VIRUS that can be used to manage Helicoverpa armigera, the insect whose caterpillars or larvae have long ravaged crops, has been developed by entomologists at the Crop Protection Division of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Andhra Pradesh. Helicoverpa has for long caused damage to …
A NEW predatory mite has proved to be a boon for Africa's cassava (a root crop) fields. Recently, scientists from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in lbadan, Nigeria, announced that the battle against the green spider mite, a cassava-destroying pest, had been won two years after a predator …
The land of white elephants has been named among one of the four honoured Asian countries which have managed to achieve self-sufficiency in food for growing and increasingly affluent populations. The other countries are China, India and Indonesia. The outstanding track records of these countries are documented in a recent …
IT WAS humanity’s tryst with the Great Hunger at the World Food Summit held in Rome from November 13-17. An impressive array of world leaders gathered there, pledging to banish hunger from the face of the earth. As per the tradition in earlier United Nations (un) gatherings, 106 nations
if predictions of a recent study are to be believed, India is facing widespread famine. According to the report, In the Famine Trap, overpopulation, degradation of arable land and India's push to become a food exporter are threatening the country's food security. The report has been commissioned by The Ecological …
in june (17-23) this year, 150 representatives of various governments and ngo s met in Leipzig, Germany, to finalise negotiations on a global plan of action ( gpa ) for conservation and sustainable utilisation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. Topmost on the agenda was the reorientation of …
