The genepool war

The recently concluded FAO meeting on the control over plant genetic resources, their conservation and sustainable use has left the North and …

Operation Desert Swarm

Locust swarms are the bane of farmers in more than 66 countries. Small wonder then that the locust is the only insect that has a global committee …

Forests of global contention

The South's determined efforts to scuttle the forest convention that the North was adamant on pushing through was a major triumph. A blow-by-…

Vanishing breeds

While debating the ways to attain global food security, national governments ignore the most pertinent issue: rapidly disappearing agro-biodiversity

Swarm warning

Officials claim the locust problem is under control, but unless millions of hoppers -- young locusts -- stalking the deserts are exterminated …

The last frontier

The Earth's overexploited seas are in danger of turning into the Last Frontier. In giant, demonic trawls, the World's oceans are being …

Eating right to save the planet

We need to re-invent sustainable agriculture so that it can meet the needs of millions, but does not cost us the Earth

Retail FDI myths

There is no evidence that global retail chains ensure better prices for farmers or help bring down inflation

Empty Promises

The high-level conference at Rome was called to find a way out of the global food crisis. A series of consultations with experts preceded this …

Global food crisis: causes and implications for India

Is there a global crisis unravelling? World food reserves are at their lowest in 25 years and the prices of most food crops are at a record high. …

Bhopal to Germany

Airlifting Union Carbide waste requires amending Indian law, violates Basel Convention

Meaty tales of vegetarian India

Indians are eating more meat and enjoying it. Higher incomes, global food chains and a vast population of young people indifferent to religious …

Spreading message

Fatal disconnect

The silver spoon

Development in the small-farm sector holds the key to a holistic progress in the Asia-Pacific countries

Who is protected?

The Lok Sabha passed Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Bill with complete amendments on August 9, 2001, twenty months after it …

Enter the Bank

Counting grains

Food vs fuel

Report sees opportunities for agricultural growth in West Africa

Many countries rely on imports to meet their urban food market demand as a growing proportion of the population is made up of consumers, who …

'Global cooperation needed to reduce food insecurity in Iraq'

About 2 million Iraqis are now displaced within the country because of the current crisis brought on by ISIS militants, the Syrian conflicts and …

Food for thought

A happy picture painted by a recent FAO report gives way to grim realities about global food situation

Swift scaler

In dire straits

Mountains that matter

The United Nations declares 2002 as the International Year of the Mountains