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Farmers’ protest in Rajasthan has come to an end as the state government has announced loan waivers after multiple rounds of discussion with farmers’ representatives. This was announced in a press conference by the Rajasthan agriculture minister Prabhulal Saini. “We have agreed to waive loans up to Rs 50,000 for farmers. A high level team of specialists will talk to stakeholders in other states and chart out the process of loan waiver and its impact in Rajasthan,” he was quoted as saying in media reports.  The decision was made after an 11-hour-long meeting involving ministers Prabhulal Saini, Ajay Kilak, Pushpendra Singh and Rampratap along with state BJP President Ashok Parnami with a 11 member farmers’ delegation including former CPI(M) MLAs Amraram and Pemaram and leaders Harphool Singh, Gursharan Singh, Sheopat Ram, Narayan Dudui, Lalchand Bhadu and Chagganlal. Following the loan waiver announcement, the farmers ended the “mahapadav” (sit-in) which began on September 1. P...

As climate change threatens food production worldwide, smallholder farmers need improved access to agricultural biotechnologies to ensure nutrition security and fight poverty in poorer regions of the world, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Monday. According to the FAO, family farmers produce about 80 per cent of the world’s food and due to the variety of food grown by them, contribute significantly to food security. Last year during an international symposium, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said, “We cannot lose sight that biotechnologies, knowledge and innovation must be available, accessible and applicable to family farmers, including small holders.” Continuing in the same vein, the United Nations food agency is now urging Asia-Pacific countries to consider both low-tech and high-tech solutions present in the biotechnology toolbox. The agency is also urging countries to consider biofertilisers or biopesticides in crops and trees, artificial insemi...

Discussions on agriculture in the context of climate always focus on productivity and yield under global warming and temperature extremes. While rice, wheat, maize and soybean yields are expected to go down due to warming, there is optimism that genomics will deliver drought-and pest-resistant varieties. Time-tested methods for sustainable agriculture still have a big role to play in terms of crop rotation, crop diversity, drip irrigation, traditional and genetic breeding, integrated pest management and so on. Information technology will also play a bigger role via precision agriculture. But the role of agriculture in climate adaptation and mitigation must also be considered in the context of the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions commitments (INDC). The agriculture sector contributes up to 25 per cent of the total anthropogenic emissions. Organic farming is considered environmentally friendly, but it must be kept in mind that organic food choices are mostly a lifestyl...

Given its close link with both temperature and rainfall, it is possible to forecast outbreak of dengue. But for such disease forecasting to be effective it should be based on models specific for different climatic zones in the country, a new study has shown. Scientists have reached this conclusion after evaluating the relationship of climatic factors in the spread of dengue in different climatic zones in the country – Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Kerala. They focused on changes in a factor called ‘extrinsic incubation period (EIP) of the dengue virus by taking into account daily and monthly mean temperatures in these areas. Dr. Mutheneni (second from right) with his team at IICT, Hyderabad. Credit: India Science Wire Dr. Mutheneni (second from right) with his team at IICT, Hyderabad. Credit: India Science Wire The extrinsic incubation period (EIP) is the time taken for incubation of the virus in the mosquito. During this period, after the mosquito draws virus rich blo...

The CAG audit report of the Centre’s crop insurance schemes has highlighted gaps in their implementation that compromise its purpose of providing financial assistance to farmers. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) looked into the performance of two schemes—Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS) and the National Crop Insurance Programme (NCIP) —between Kharif season of 2011 to Rabi season of 2015-16. NDA government’s ambitious Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, which came into force in Kharif 2016, was not been scrutinised by the CAG. Delayed payments The report suggested delay at the state level caused obstruction in providing financial aid to farmers. The report found that Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare (DAC&FW) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare released funds, but the delay took place at the state government level, it stated. Protocol not followed According to the report, the Agricultural...

An analysis of the government’s flagship national agriculture insurance scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), has suggested that while being far superior to previous such schemes, its implementation is seriously compromised. The report was released by New Delhi based non-profit Centre for Science and Environment. CSE’s deputy director general Chandra Bhushan, said, “This assessment is based on our field study in Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, as well as national level engagement with various stakeholders including farmer and farmers organisations, insurance companies and government departments.” Across the world, agriculture insurance is recognised as an important part of the safety net for farmers to deal with the impacts of extreme and unseasonal weather due to climate change. The hits and misses of PMFBY The PMFBY was launched by the Centre on April 1, 2016 to help farmers cope with crop losses due to unseasonal and extreme weather. It replaced the N...

It took the tragic death of six farmers in Madhya Pradesh for the national media to report on the deep-rooted agricultural crisis. The farmers who were killed in police firing during protests were demanding that the government pay a higher minimum support price (MSP) for their crops. But it is not only in Madhya Pradesh that farmers are out in the streets. Agricultural unrest is worse in the more prosperous and productive regions, where the input cost of farming is higher and so is the debt. Farmers are bleeding. Enough is enough, they are saying. The current crisis is about the problem of aplenty. The crop production this year has been good, but the farmers are in trouble because the glut means that the value of the crop has gone down. After seasons of bad yield (caused by rain failure or variable and extreme weather), this is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. The bumper crop could have helped them make good their losses and pay their loans. Their despair should make us act. ...

Some revolutions are as important for the way their seeds took root as for the transformation they usher in. Protests and campaigns against genetically modified (GM) crops are routine across the globe but none has resulted in the dramatic denouement witnessed in Burkina Faso, a small impoverished country in West Africa. In this top cotton exporting country, GM or Bt cotton, peddled by agri biotech giant Monsanto under the Bollgard II trademark, has been rolled back completely. And Monsanto itself is, reportedly, exiting Burkina Faso after paying compensation to the cotton companies for the decline in revenues and more significantly for damage to the reputation of Burkina cotton. Those familiar with Monsanto operations worldwide, especially in India where farmers have suffered debilitating losses and destruction of livelihoods, would find this is unprecedented. Monsanto has never acknowledged that its insect-resistant Bt cotton has ever failed although damage to their crop has compel...

How food waste can be recycled and turned into resource to reduce rural and urban poverty and improve nutrition? We should avoid as much as possible any waste in the chain from (human) food production to consumption. However, from the farm to the fork, some waste is unavoidable. In rural areas, agricultural (processing) by-products and wastes from farming will be available while in urban areas it will be from distribution (centres) and final consumers. In Belgium and Netherlands, we have companies collecting vegetable and fruit wastes from supermarkets and distribution points and using it to feed insects. The dried insect larvae are then used in fish and chicken feed. In developing countries, poor urban people can collect food waste (usually for free) and use it to farm insects. In this way, we act at three levels: reduce the disposal of waste in the city, provide cash income opportunities and improve nutrition. There are many alternatives to traditional sources of protein s...

Some revolutions are as important for the way their seeds took root as for the transformation they usher in. Protests and campaigns against genetically modified (GM) crops are routine across the globe but none has resulted in the dramatic denouement witnessed in Burkina Faso, a small impoverished country in West Africa. In this top cotton exporting country, GM or Bt cotton, peddled by agri biotech giant Monsanto under the Bollgard II trademark, has been rolled back completely. And Monsanto itself is, reportedly, exiting Burkina Faso after paying compensation to the cotton companies for the decline in revenues and more significantly for damage to the reputation of Burkina cotton. Those familiar with Monsanto operations worldwide, especially in India where farmers have suffered debilitating losses and destruction of livelihoods, would find this is unprecedented. Monsanto has never acknowledged that its insect-resistant Bt cotton has ever failed although damage to their crop has compel...

Engineering students at Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee have developed a mobile app that can help farmers practice precision agriculture, particularly in application of precise amount of fertilisers. By determining health of the crops using hyperspectral imaging of crop leaves, the app could help in rational use of fertilisers. The app has won IIT Roorkee students the Ericsson Innovation Award 2017. Over 900 teams from 75 countries participated in the global contest for developing innovative ICT ideas on the theme of ‘Future of Food’. Farmers apply fertilisers based on their experience rather than any rational input. Therefore, if they chose not to apply, perhaps they may be taking a risk and suffer economic losses. On the other hand, excessive application spoils the soil and damages the environment. “If only the farmers can know the health status of the plant, then they can make a more rational choice. The app developed by our students would be handy to the farmers. They w...

Three years after Narendra Modi-led NDA government came to power, India witnesses unprecedented level of low food inflation. States like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have been witnessing farmers’ unrest for quite some time now. Six farmers were killed in police firing in a protest rally held in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh to demand fair price of their produce and farm loan waiver. On the one hand, middle-class celebrates one of the lowest food inflation rates, and on the other hand farmers get nothing in return of their toil and get killed for demanding fair price of their produce. Food inflation rate in April was 0.31 per cent, which was lower than the inflation rate in January (0.53 per cent). Just one year back, the inflation was hovering around 8.35 per cent. (See table 1) Analysis shows that low food inflation is directly proportional to fair price of produces in the market. As food inflation witnesses a sharp decline, so is the price of produces in agriculture ma...

State of India’s agriculture is back in news. The recent shooting of farmers during a protest in Madhya Pradesh that led to six deaths, and the ongoing protests in Maharashtra for agricultural debt waiver, are two big developments within a week’s time. But these are symptoms of a bigger crisis afflicting agriculture in India. Increasing desertification of India’s soil, is a fundamental threat to agriculture, according to the recently released State of India’s Environment 2017: In Figures book published by the Centre for Science and Environment and Down To Earth magazine. According to this report, nearly 30 per cent of India is degraded or facing desertification. Of India's total geographical area of 328.72 million hectares (MHA), 96.4 MHA is under desertification. In eight states—Rajasthan, Delhi, Goa, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Tripura and Himachal Pradesh—around 40 to 70 per cent of land has undergone desertification. More to it, 26 of 29 Indian states have reported...

I was unable to fathom his agony when he consumed pesticide last year; this year I might follow in his footsteps,"says Rahul Athole of Talavada village in Maharashtra’s Beed district as he recounts the events that forced his elder brother, Sahibrao, to take his life. At 33, Sahibrao was full of beans. Within two years of managing his one-hectare (ha) family land, he proved wrong all those who said agriculture was not remunerative: he converted his mud house into a brick-and-plaster one and paid back the housing loan of Rs 1.5 lakh. In 2012, he borrowed Rs 2.1 lakh to grow cash crops. He planted sweet lime and watermelon on a small patch and cotton on the rest. Unfortunately, that year the rains failed. All the eight districts, including Beed, that make up the Marathwada region, faced one of the worst droughts in recent history. Sahibrao tried to recover the losses the next year, but 2013 did not prove to be a good year either. Freak hailstorm and unseasonal rains in March 2014...