Not just green: Natural farming in Andhra yielded more produce than conventional methods, shows study

Apart from the higher yield, nutrient availability was also unaffected in Zero Budget Natural Farming

Depleting food grain stock ring alarms: Is India staring at a rice crisis?

Over 44 million tonnes of grains in stock compared to 78.6 million tonnes last year; Wheat dangerously close to buffer limit

Why climate change studies on rice production are important in Wayanad

Area under rice cultivation has been declining rapidly in north Kerala district between 2004-05 and 2018-19 

Traditional seeds need to be conserved for organic farming

At the 19th Organic World Congress, more than 55 groups have come together to call for the conservation of indigenous seeds and shunning GM crops

Despite having toilets at home, many in rural India choose to defecate in open

Programmes launched to promote use of latrines have failed to influence sanitation behaviours of many people

Outstanding grain

The aromatic enigma makes basmati a clear winner among grains. The lack of knowledge of what traditional basmati is and an inability to take …

Science and Technology - Briefs

Kerala says no to GM crop

The many ways of GM contamination

Doug Gurian-Sherman, a senior scientist in the food and environment programme at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), is among the most …

Scientists identify genes that can increase drought resistance in plants

African ‘orphan’ crop varieties to help plants battle high temperatures  

Agriculture is egocentric

Norman Uphoff, professor emeritus of government and international agriculture at Cornell University, US, likes to say that the system of rice …

Straw in the wind

Poor regulators do not a rich country make

South Asia

Punjab's paddy dilemma

In 2009, Punjab became the first state in the country to enact a law banning the sowing of rice before a stipulated date. The aim was to arrest …

Rice at risk

Growing paddy is not viable for small farmers of Kerala. Will the state be able to preserve the crop which delivers a number of ecological …

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. …

GM field trials now need panchayat nod

Flash droughts hit nearly 15% rice, maize areas in 1951-2018 monsoons: Study

At least 39 flash droughts occurred in 1951-2018; 82% occurred during the monsoon season, the study found 

Thirty Million, a documentary on Bangladesh and that sinking feeling

This documentary by Daniel Price and Adrien Taylor explores the adverse impact of climate change on Bangladesh' landscape, food security and …

South Asia

Global Eco Watch: Chinese pink dolphin numbers rise in Pearl river estuary

Down To Earth brings you the top happenings in the world of global ecology

Climate crisis in North East India: Why Nagaland’s Liphi, Runchan villages saw floods never seen before

Nagaland’s Wokha district experienced at least 3 heavy-to-very heavy rainfall events in 2018 

In deep water

Rivers Krishna and Mahanadi are in crisis. In the race to industrialise, states have drawn plans to exploit their last drop. For four decades, …

Dying for ration: Centre to give free foodgrains to 813 million from New Year, but what of those excluded

Coverage of the National Food Security Act is still done on the basis of the outdated 2011 Census