DID AKBAR, the great Moghul (1556-1605), relish dam aalu? Probably not, especially as one doesn't have firm evidence he did. The record kept by his minister, Abul Fazl, of crops grown in India in

Behind an unmarked door in a Lima suburb, Javier Wong is planning a revolution in more than just stir-fry cooking. In fact the very future of food - and farming - is being re-imagined here in a city where nobody dined out 20 years ago, where there is no national tradition of gastronomy, and where there is considerable malnutrition. But in the capital of Peru, a city not so long ago wracked by Shining Path terrorist violence, the top chefs - men and women like Gaston Acurio, Javier Wong and Pedro Miguel Schiaffino - believe gastronomy can achieve social justice.

SPUDS & SOCCER BALLS SET TO ELECTRIFY THE FUTURE

An electric battery based on boiled potatoes could provide a cheap source of electricity in the developing world, according to the technology transfer company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Lack of buying interest, inadequate storage spaced cited as reasons for the fall in prices.

Scientists have come up with a home-grown genetically modified (gm) potato. This ubiquitous vegetable has now been fortified with proteins derived from an amaranth (Amaranthus) species through

Tonnes of potatoes rot due to the dysfunctioning of two cold storage units in West Bengal, polluting the eco system and upsetting the economy

TWO RESEARCHERS have produced genetically altered potato tissue that can detect compounds like alcohol and drug products in body fluids. Garry Rechnitz and Ae-June Wang of the University of Hawaii in

A NEW variety of potato has its own armour against pests and does not need a helping hand from insecticides. Its armour of hair traps and kills insects trying to feed on it (Ceres, Vol 25, No 2).

SCIENTISTS have enhanced the nutritional value of the potato by inserting a synthetic gene into the plant and are now considering how to use genetic engineering to provide the plant with

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