Agriculture for the Indian rural people is the way of life, a tradition, which for centuries, has shaped thought, outlook, culture and economic life of the people of the country. It is not a commodity machine but the backbone of the livelihood security system, where more than two-thirds of the population lives in the villages. So, agriculture is not just a question of economics and trade but of dignity and survival, and has a special significance for low income group, poor and vulnerable section of rural society.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s food deficits India has been requiring importation of 3 to 4 million tons of grain per year. However because of bad monsoons in 1965 and 1966, imports exploded unpwardly to 10 million tons, and India was in dire straits. It was during this period that, after three years of testing on experiment stations, the so-called high yielding Mexican wheat varieties, which had proven very interesting under experimental conditions, where considered as a possible way to break the worsening food deficit.

Bioenergy could help bring food security to the world's poorest continent, say Lee R. Lynd and Jeremy Woods.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v474/n7352_supp/full/474S020a.html

Easy access to agro-chemicals in Sri Lanka blamed for public health scare.