Neem gains honour as India's wonder tree

Known in ancient India as a tree with many wondrous properties, the neem tree is slowly drawing the attention of the country's scientific and …

Tried and tested

Traditional medical and agricultural practices, usually dismissed as unscientific, are regaining favour, with some help from Honeybee -- a …

Making science of mumbo-jumbo

Scientists compile India's ethnic knowledge. They find a veritable gold-mine

No pesticides

Farmers can save crops without pesticides. And they can earn more in the deal. sopan joshi records a great change sweeping through Andhra …

Orange tumbles

Nagpur orange’s survival hinges precariously on its return to sustainable cultivation. Farmers have woken up to this, but will the government?

Punjab's spiritual farming

Made it

Enabavi, a village of 52 families, is abuzz. It is hosting farmers from the nearby Kallem village who have come here for tips on profitable …

Organic thread

Even as Bt cotton invaded Indian fields in the past few years, some farmer groups kept pushing for organic cotton. In 2009-10, production in …

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 …

No pesticides no debts

Toxic truths

A soil bacterium produces a lethal toxin which kills insects as they chew their way into a plant

Tit for tat

Deadly quick

Fungal enzyme that can make biopesticides efficient

Eliminating rats

Insects, too, hate the smell

Biopesticide developed from garlic

Biopesticide delay plagues malaria control plan

As scientists debate which of two new pesticides should be used in the fight against malaria, the toll in the disease slowly rises.

Neem "green"

The menace of pesticide-resistant varieties can be effectively managed with the help of neem-based pesticides

Neem gains honour as India's wonder tree

Known in ancient India as a tree with many wondrous properties, the neem tree is slowly drawing the attention of the country's scientific and …

Lab-made pyrethrin will hi t Kenyan growers

A whiff of death

Researchers are now trying to develop natural weapons to scare off pests by studying the olfactory mechanism of plants that emit odours when …

Natural-born killers

A naturally occuring bacterium in milk can save the losses incurred by mal1scale dairy farmers who do not own refrigeration facilities

Wood does a lot of good

It was the bane of the rubber tree, as the fungus Phytophthora literally ate into its every part. With the discovery of antifungal wood extracts, …

Sugar kills

Karnataka farmers want target cargill again

Opposition to multinationals in the agriculture sector in Karnataka may soon spread throughout India

New fungicide is eco-benign

Scientists are thrilled by the discovery that fungal enzymes called chitinases are environment friendly fungicides.