Chief minister (CM) Prithviraj Chavan emphasised the necessity of green revolution to meet the increasing demands of the country.

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.

This new report analyses the challenges and options involved in shifting to a “green economy” based on more efficient and renewable energy technologies, transforming agricultural technologies so as to guarantee food security without further degrading land and water resources, and utilizing technology to adapt to climate change.

Seed is the only part of the agricultural chain that is growing at 20% a year and is insulated from both government subsidies and weather vagaries.

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

Chandigarh Sitting at the edge of fields in the heart of India

Rain-dependent areas, which account for 60% of India

Oxfam, an international confederation of 15 human rights organisations fighting poverty and injustice, launched a new campaign here on Wednesday for a hunger-free world even as it announced that the number of hungry people the world over has crossed the billion mark and one in four of the world's hungry people live in India. Despite doubling the size of its economy between 1990 and 2005, the nu

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

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