Making sunlight liquid – a brief history of sunflowers
If we continue to adapt sunflowers to our needs as climates change, we must ensure diverse genes are conserved for future generations
Cage the abusers
In battery cages, egg-laying hens are suffocated, debeaked and injected with antibiotics. Their only hope lies with the Delhi High Court, which …
Equal rights
The largest collection of germplasm in the world will be handed over to the Food and Agriculture Organisation to ensure equal accessibility
Dal hybrid beneficial but costly
The hybridisation of tur dal has made it higher-yielding and less vulnerable to disease. But only rich farmers will be able to buy the seeds.
Officials shed crocodile tears
Crocodiles today abound in captive breeding centres in India. But the government still applies to them a protection law that was relevant two …
Sexual distinction
A new technique enables the determination of the sex of cattle and goats at the embryonic stage
Flowery woes
The crisis of pollination assumes greater significance in the face of declining numbers of species which act as useful pollinators
Who will play Cupid?
Pollinators, small insects like bees and butterflies, animals like bats and small birds such as the hummingbird, play a big role in helping …
How temperature & rainfall are complicating Africa’s fight against malaria
Six countries — Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Mozambique, Angola and Burkina Faso — accounted for about 55% …
Scientists develop bio-fortified maize to address ‘hidden hunger’
The new hybrids have 4.5 folds more vitamin A content and similar amounts of lysine and tryptophan as earlier varieties
A new invasive mosquito has been found in Kenya — what this means for malaria control
Anopheles stephensi can breed in cisterns, jerrycans, tyres, open tanks, sewers, overhead tanks, underground tanks and polluted environments
Sweet ’n’ sour
Moringa and tamarind are popularly known as the trees of life for Indians. Moringa is in fashion as the world eyes India to feed its frenzy for …
COVID-19: Beijing proposes to permanently ban harvesting of wild animals
Experts say an all-out ban may not be the right solution for China's woes of wildlife trade
Unhearthed
Human encroachment has created imbalance in the avian ecology. Better management practices are needed for the conservation of species diversity
35 crocodile nests seen in Odisha’s Bhitarkanika National Park
Bhitarkanika, a vast tract of forest and saltwater swamp, is home to at least 1,742 salt water crocodiles
Did climate change trigger US’s worst West Nile virus outbreak?
Wetter-than-average monsoon potentially facilitated a boom in mosquito population, which spread the virus
COVID-19 calls for a thoughtful appraisal about humanity’s equation with animals
Animals in captivity in zoos, circuses and other facilities, should be given humane treatment, should not be bred indiscriminately and should be …
How cow became the mother of demigods
The current political discourse on cow protection disregards the history of beef eating in India
AMR week: Antimalaria drug resistance not alarming but growing fast, says WHO report
Three states in India’s North East reported resistance to commonly used drug against malaria
Malaria cases, deaths begin stabilising after COVID disruption: WHO
While deaths came down to 619,000 in 2021 from 625,000 in the first year of the pandemic, it remained higher than the pre-pandemic level of 568,…
Fighting hidden hunger
Dr Howarth E Bouis, director of HarvestPlus, is a doctorate from Stanford University. He is promoting biofortification within the Consultative …
Disappearing Act
Only special breeding programmes and creation of corridors can save the lion-tailed macaque from extinction
It’s high time to move towards compassionate, responsible wildlife tourism
Elephants used for tourist rides in Amer Fort in Jaipur, Rajasthan are part of the tourism packages that subject these wild animals to live in …
Multi-stakeholder approach needed to address Assam’s vulture poisoning incidents
Farmers set poisoned meat to kill dogs, but vultures die in huge numbers, leaving few records of dog mortality
New global standard adopted for making trade in plants and seeds safer
There is an increasing risk that pests carried by seeds could establish themselves and spread after planting