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 …
RIGHTS ISSUE: A patent on atta chakkis (flour mills). It sure was unexpected. But it's been granted. The latest victim of the patent rights regime is the Asian traditional knowledge of producing atta. The US patent office has given patent rights to Nebraska-based ConAgra Inc for the "method for producing …
There is disappointment down under over the us farm bill which has recently become a law. The us bill will provide new subsidies for domestic farmers over the next decade. It raises subsidy rates for soyabean, wheat, corn, cotton and barley. Australian trade minister Mark Vaile says that a dithering …
Over the next 50 years, harvests of staple crops like rice, maize and wheat may be reduced by one- third due to global warming. This has been revealed by a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report published recently. The document brings to the fore the fact that rising temperature adversely …
Caution is good but it should not take the place of good policy making. By refusing environmental clearance to genetically modified cotton from Monsanto, the government of India has treaded the path of caution but not necessarily the path of good science and good policy. This should also not be …
G lobal trade in coarse grains in 1995 was to the magnitude of about 132 metric tonnes (mt) and is projected to rise to 175 mt by 2005. About 80-85 per cent of this export originates from industria lised countries, where coarse grains are cultivated for animal feed. In Japan, …
That they are called coarse grains summarises their present status in Indian society. Go anywhere in the country, and you will see a marked inferiority accorded to
wide variations of nitrous oxide (n2o) emissions over varying areas and time periods make estimation a tough proposition. A study published in Current Science (Vol 79, No 10) says n2o emissions from soils used for different crops and in different seasons in India can have wide variations. n2o is a …
finally one can see some action. A lot has been said about the falling agricultural productivity in the Indo-Gangetic Plains ( igp). An inititative is on to check the decline in yields of rice and wheat in the area. 12 million hectares of igp includes parts of Bangladesh, India, Nepal …
something as common and essential as atta (wheat flour) could be poisoned with pesticides. That's what is said in a new study conducted by the Consumer Education and Research Society, Ahmedabad. The study analysed 10 branded and three loose samples of atta collected from all over the country and found …
the Gujarat State Pollution Control Board has been forced to shut down Unimark Remedies, a chemical plant situated on the Ahmedabad-Bagodra highway. Pollution from the chemical plant has destroyed wheat crops growing on at least 40 hectares of land. The plant had no provisions to treat its water and gaseous …
Gian kaur, 50, is a breast cancer patient. But in her village her ailment does not make her unique or get her visitors to check on her health. Almost every house in her village Giana in Bhatinda district has an ailing patient to tend to. Cancer or less fatal diseases …
A few months, India was besieged by a drought. But the drought did not lead to a famine. A comfortable grain reserve of 26 million tonnes -11 million tonnes more than would be required in a normal year to stave of the famine. But this may be the last time …
Undoubtedly, GR made Punjab one of the richest states in India in terms of per capita income. From Rs 2,674 in 1980-81, the per capita income at current prices rose to Rs 19,770 in 1997-98. Compared to Punjab, Tamil Nadu's per capita income was only Rs 12,989, while that of …
It's been 50 years since politicians have been mouthing the slogan: Jai jawan, jai kisan (Long live soldiers, long live farmers). Now it has started to sound like a raucous chant, at least to the farmers struggling to survive. They till the soil harder, increase their spending to replenish their …
Li-Yuxing has been looking at the skies in despair. He is one of the many farmers of northeast China's Shandong and Henan provinces that produce about half of China's winter wheat. At the time when the Chinese government is gearing up to face annual summer floods, the problem actually is …
Yields from the rice-wheat cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic plain are declining despite the increasing use of chemical fertilizers. Crop residues are important components of soil fertility management, but are burnt in some areas such as Punjab state. Not only does this mean a loss of nutrients but also causes …
