Blowing in the wind

Answers to why dust storms  are on the rise in East Asia  

Notification neglected

Toxic effects

Air pollution considerably increases cancer risk in the US

A land in turmoil

An assessment of environmental degradation must preclude rebuilding of Afghanistan

Bytes

How balanced soil nutrient management can save Indian agriculture

The ill-effects of imbalanced application of fertilisers — which leads to soil sickness, decline in soil health and reduces crop …

World Soil Day: Tackle soil pollution and do away with food insecurity, says FAO

The UN agency says that addressing this issue will also help bring down soil degradation, stem rural migration and adapt to climate change

A new programme aims at increasing Africa's soil productivity by 30%

Poor soil fertility is a major constraint to improving farm productivity and farmer livelihoods in Africa

Year-long tenancies deter soil conservation

The present land tenure laws do not encourage the conservation of agricultural land and lead to fallow patches, as is evident from the condition …

Sustaining terra firma

Scientists in New Zealand have developed a low-cost technology that can clean contaminated soil

WWF: 32 million acres of grasslands across US & Canadian Great Plains ploughed up since 2012

Destruction of grasslands across Great Plains continues at an unsustainable pace

Beyond conservation, why our natural ecosystems need restoration

Significant strides have been made in both the science and practice of restoration over the last three decades, with specialisation across …

Askew

As Parliament mulls the Seeds Bill 2004, there is intense opposition to it. It's likely the government will redraft it. sopan joshi and sourav …

Micro-irrigation: The way ahead for sustainable agriculture

In the age of climate change and water scarcity, micro-irrigation can help increase crop yield and decrease water, fertiliser and labour …

Where does the water go during a drought? Germany researchers try to find out

Researchers examined how the process of evaporation and groundwater recharge differed under various kinds of soils and land uses

Black soil in red: Climate change threatens world’s food basket

FAO report finds most black soils moderate to severely eroded due to land-use change, unsustainable practices 

Forest fires - a trailblazer

Controlled burning of woodlands can be an effective tool for enriching the land and ecology. Dipanjan Ghosh looks at the possibilities

We have robbed the soil of its nutrients

P N TAKKAR former director of the Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, and currently principal scientist at the Indian Agricultural Research …

A peek into the world of fungi

First-of-its-kind global study shows soil fungi can directly impact climate change

Clean and grassy

Contaminated soil can be remedied by planting ryegrasses

‘Deficiency in micronutrients in soil linked to health of children and women’

Districts with an increased proportion of soil zinc samples had significantly lower rates of child stunting and underweight

Ground reality

Animal diversity in the soil mapped for the first time

Better paranoid

Than regret loss that happens in millions

Appalling ability

What makes a species invasive?

"Serious study has not yet begun"

R Uma Shankar, Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, speaks to Down To Earth