The 2016 Rural Development Report focuses on inclusive rural transformation as a central element of the global efforts to eliminate poverty and hunger, and build inclusive and sustainable societies for all.
The Standing Committee on Agriculture (2015-2016) present this Twenty Ninth Report (Sixteenth Lok Sabha) on the subject ‘Impact of Chemical Fertilizers and Pesticides on Agriculture and Allied Sectors in the Country’ pertaining to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (Department of Agricultural Research and Education).
Improving the productivity of smallholder farms in Sub-Saharan Africa offers the best chance to reduce poverty among this generation of rural poor, by building on the limited resources farming households already possess. It is also the best and shortest path to meet rising food needs.
Genetically modified foods do not pose a threat to human health or the environment and will aid in feeding a growing world population in a sustainable manner, the Royal Society says. It published a factual Q&A guide aimed at dispelling myths and misconceptions about GM food.
Punjab is one of the most fertile regions in India, where wheat, rice, sugar cane, fruits and vegetables are grown and it is called the “Granary of India” or “India’s bread-basket”. Rice and wheat are double cropped in Punjab with rice stalks being burned off over millions of acres prior to the planting of wheat. This widespread practice is polluting and wasteful. In Punjab the consumption of fertilizer per hectare is 223.46 kg as compared to 90 kg nationally.
A new FAO book out today takes a close look at how the world's major cereals maize, rice and wheat - which together account for an estimated 42.5 percent of human calories and 37 percent of our protein - can be grown in ways that respect and even leverage natural ecosystems.
As a source of livelihood, agriculture (including forestry and fishing) remains the largest sector of Indian Economy. While its output share fell from 28.3% in 1993-94 to 14.4% in 2011-12, employment share declined from 64.8% to 48.9% over the same period. Therefore, almost half of the workforce in India still remains dependent on agriculture.
The paddy-wheat monoculture induced a decelerating agricultural trend in Punjab which has been felt in the form of stagnation in output, deteriorating productivity, environmental degradation, declining farm incomes, depeasantization and suicides by farmers.
Forecasting a serious threat to sustainable crop production, scientists have estimated that by 2050 salinity may affect about 20 million hectares of arable land, causing over three-fold increase in
There is no reason why India should face hunger and malnutrition, and why our farmers should commit suicide. India is blessed with the most fertile soils in the world.
