The National Biodiversity Authority has released a new set of rules to manage sharing of benefits generated through the use of biological resources. The Biological Diversity (Access to biological Resources and Knowledge Associated thereto and Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits) Regulation 2025 was approved by the Central government and …
Farmers' traditional methods for managing the potato late blight in the Meghalaya hills are successful examples of ecological disease management and an established outcome of traditional experimentations. Such farmers' wisdom ought to be given attention in formal research systems. Dec 2007
Meghalaya, a small state in the North Eastern region of India, is inhabited by different indigenous communities, mainly of Mongoloid origin. Of the approximately 2.3 million population, about 85 percent live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Due to physiographic features, shifting cultivation and Bun cultivation …
Beejamrutha: a mix of cow dung, cow urine, water, lime and a handful of soil for protecting the crop from harmful soil-borne and seed-borne pathogens. Seeds and fruits are preserved in this solution. At times, saplings are dipped in the Beejamrutha before being planted. Ghanjeev Amrit: is applied to the …
Ethnobotanist and director-general of Amity Foundation's Institute of Biotechnology at Thiruvananthapuram, Palpu Pushpangadan, tells P R J Pradeep that India can learn a lot from China about making native knowledge the basis of development Why do you say that India needs to learn a lot from China? The Chinese primarily …
This report starts with a brief account of different types of IPRs, including a brief overview of the WTO TRIPs agreement. It focuses on biodiversity and relationship with the IPR regime. The benefits of biodiversity and the Convention on Biological Diversity have been explained. The relationship between the CBD and …
Kunapajala, an Ayurvedic plant growth promoter, has been mentioned in Vrikshayurveda to promote flowering, fruiting and vegetative growth of plants. Kunapajala was prepared in laboratory according to the standard procedure as available in the literature. To demonstrate the effect of Kunapajala, Senna was grown in Dhanvantari Garden of Gujarat Ayurved …
Sacred groves are small tracts of near-virgin forests protected by the indigenous communities. Being the storehouses of medicinal plants, these are a unique Indian way of in-situ conservation of biodiversity. This paper deals with an account of the role played by Chilkigarh sacred grove in West Bengal in the conservation …
Building materials have ecological footprints The construction material in buildings have evolved from mud to sun-dried bricks to burnt bricks, then to lime, glass, iron products, lime-pozzolana cement, aluminium, portland cement and plastics. Production of building materials has moved from highly decentralised and labour-intensive processes to centralised, machine-dependent industry mode. …
thanks to ayurveda, Subhash Jacob is free from migraine now. The headache was with him for over 30 years. Repeated attempts at seeking cure from different schools of medicines were ineffective and left him with many side effects. "I am 90 per cent cured after I took the ayurvedic treatment,' …
A geographical indication (GI) is a form of protection highlighted in the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It protects intangible economic assets such as the quality and reputation of a product through market differentiation. It is considered a promising tool …
Jaisalmer fort and the rest of the of the city was built for heat, with wind corridors and the architecture providing built-in comfort for its denizens. Jaisalmer is not unique. Cherrapunji, the wettest town on the planet, is also built to cope, as Down To Earth will report in the …
Meinhard Von Gerkan, a partner in the German architectural firm GMP, was in Delhi recently to prospect for ventures in India, particularly in light of the upcoming Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi. He speaks to Kaushik Das Gupta On architecture Architecture, like all arts, originates from the human desire …
Hilaro Siquera used to own a 243-hectare farm in Divar, about 6 km from Goa's capital, Panaji. His land isn't cultivable any more: saline water has claimed most of it. Most of Siqueria's fellow cultivators work as daily wagers, their farms having been reduced to mosquito-infested swamps. Divar's 400-odd farms …
It's quite well-known that indigenous communities share an intricate relationship with their environments. Their understanding of plants, also called ethnobotanical knowledge, is crucial to the health of these communities. Researchers from four different universities
It has been found that local ethnobotanical knowledge helps keep the Tsimane tribe in Bolivia, fit. The people use plants for medicines, firewood, construction, tools and food. For instance, the sap from stems of a plant Serjania tenuifolia, when released in water bodies, affects fish. They cannot breathe and float …
The rate at which indigenous Rice varieties are getting depleted is extremely alarming. It is becoming increasingly clear that to maintain biodiversity in farmers
Earlier, most people ate what was locally available: fish, for example, was a staple in coastal areas, and people living in, or close to, fertile agricultural tracts preferred grains. Classical cuisines are often a good indicator of local food preferences, even if we account for the caveat that these were …
Kavitha Kuruganti I was at the Indian Social Science Congress recently, presenting a paper on genetically engineered crops, raising questions on technology decision-making in Indian agriculture research. The chairperson, an eminent agriculture scientist, intervened and wanted to know what I meant by
