Dealing with crop stresses and scandals

Subbanna Ayyappan has made history in the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (IACR) by becoming the first non-crop scientist to head this …

Linkage between science and public policy has weakened

M S Swaminathan, popularly known as the father of India’s Green Revolution, has been associated with national agricultural research system (…

Private sector is profiting from vacuum left by ICAR

In the agriculture research hierarchy, Swapan Kumar Datta occupies the second rung, one of eight deputy director generals (DDGs) in the Indian …

A plant breeder comes into his own

Awards are finally coming to K Vinod Prabhu, 54, a plant breeder, for his work on building resistance in wheat, mustard and rice through the …

‘Stopping GM trials is anti-farmer’

Genetically modified (GM) mustard hybrid DMH-11 developed by Delhi University’s Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants ran into …

Science under siege

Agricultural science has ossified in India. Despite a vast network of public research institutions and agriculture universities across the country,…

Organic Universe

Organic is all the rage. Organic food, cosmetics, clothes and even organic medicines. But mostly it is food. There are speciality stores that …

Union Budget 2022-23: Allocation for agricultural education and research reduced

Expenditure on agricultural education, animal science, crop science and management of natural resources reduced in the budget

Enzyme from Yak cheese can boost nutritional value of cereals

The newly identified enzyme helps to increase bioavailability of iron, zinc, magnesium and calcium

Hazy picture

The agriculture ministry and the Indian Meteorological Department have given contradictory statements on how crops have failed in the past year

Smart device developed for precise use of herbicides

Indian and American researchers have developed a weed removal device for precise application of herbicide that can reduce crop damage and …

Blame it on the foreign hand

The government's policy of screening long-staying foreigners for AIDS is an attempt to find a scapegoat for a national health problem

Boom time for lab bloomers

India hopes to earn Rs 200 crore every year exporting flowers mass produced in laboratories

Scientists move a step closer to drought-tolerant soybean variety

Scientists at the Indore-based Indian Institute of Soybean Research studied 16 genotypes of soybean while searching for drought-…

Livestock largesse

Farmers and livestock owners are herding in a fortune as the animal sciences go into overdrive and squeeze out maximum yields

African Swine Fever hits ICAR centre in Assam, state govt’s farm; 292 pigs culled

Exact cause of disease’s spread to both facilities not ascertained yet; losses to the tune of Rs 6-7 lakh incurred

ICAR to research on, demonstrate and promote natural farming 

The directive came within a week of Modi’s speech on the relevance of zero-budget natural farming

Organic farming can lead to good yields, even in an intensively farmed area

A survey in Haryana last year found that 45 per cent of 218 organic farmers got yields for wheat better than the state official average …

Yak in Indian Himalayas face threat of climate change

The increasing trend of environmental temperature at high altitudes is resulting in heat stress in yak during warmer months, also affecting …

The fly that got away

The American serpentine leaf miner that infiltrated into India about two years ago is destroying agricultural crops

India now has 212 indigenous livestock breeds after ICAR-NBAGR registers 10 new ones

The 10 new breeds included three new cattle, one buffalo, three goats and three pigs

'We are in a much better position than in the past'

With the Zika virus spreading across the Americas, the international community has panicked. Kundan Pandey spoke to Soumya Swaminathan, Director …

Study points to quality issues in Bt cotton seeds

The study has found seed companies violating norms on the mixture of refuge seeds and Bt cotton seeds provided to farmers

Beetle's taste for sunflowers alarms experts

Scientists fear the Mexican beetle, introduced to counter the adverse effects of a weed, may destroy the sunflower crop.

Don't bite that apple!

The government's plans for boosting horticulture to earn foreign exchange do not take into account the hidden costs of deforestation, fertiliser …