The USDA will allow meat and eggs to be labeled as being raised without genetically engineered feed, marking a departure from the agency’s previous policy. Until now, the agency’s Food Safety and Inspection Service hasn’t allowed labels to include negative claims about genetically modified organisms unless they’re in the name of a third-party certifier, such […]
Women in Rural India Register Gains in Nutrition, Food Security
Food security for women in rural India increased from 21 per cent in 2015 to 53 per cent in 2017, according to a research by Grameen Foundation and Freedom from Hunger India Trust. The same increased for children from 23 per cent to 53 per cent. “These results offer hope for Indian women, more than […]
FCI to save around Rs 6,600 cr annually after GST rollout
With the rollout of the goods and services tax (GST) from July 1, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) would save around Rs6,600 crore annually on its tax bill. This is because the corporation which annually procures around 50-55 million tonne (MT) of rice and wheat from farmers in key grain growing states won’t have to pay […]
Severe droughts and floods to hit Indo-Gangetic plain, warn Indian, Chinese researchers
The Indo-Gangetic plain, India’s most populous and fertile region, will face extreme climatic conditions such as severe droughts if the burning of fossil fuel continues unabated and government policies fail to intervene, a group of Indian and Chinese researchers has warned. The droughts, a possible result of the reckless burning of fossil fuels combined with […]
India faces headwinds at WTO over food security, farm, trade demands
Geneva: Top officials from India’s commerce ministry lobbied hard last week to ensure tangible outcomes in agriculture and services at the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires later this year, several trade envoys familiar with the closed-door meetings said. India, however, encountered strong headwinds from major industrialized and some developing countries for its […]
To ensure food security, it is time to revisit the mega food park model in India
It’s no surprise that after China, India is the second largest food producer in the world, with food and groceries forming about 31% of the consumption basket. However, compared to the US and China which process 65% and 23%, respectively, of their perishables, India is able to process only 7%, which is insignificant. Even the […]
The perils of inaction on climate change in Pakistan
Extreme and erratic weather conditions, regular floods and lower agricultural outputs call for urgent adaptation reforms to counter the adverse effects of climate change in Pakistan. Currently, Pakistan ranks seventh in the 10 countries that are most affected by climate change globally, with 133 events directly attributed to it in the last two decades and costing the […]
Winston Churchill failed—will Trump back Indian food security challenge?
The independent-minded Congress member of parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor has more in common with the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) than he imagines. Both Tharoor and the BJP minister, M.J Akbar, who was one of India’s leading journalists and editors before joining politics, have impeccable nationalist credentials and both have compared Winston Churchill—the war hero—with […]
Conflict now eroding food security in ‘stable’ areas of South Sudan – UN Mission
The ongoing conflict in South Sudan is affecting food security in some of the country’s more “stable” states, the head of United Nations peacekeeping operation there has said. “Dwindling provisions arriving in the town and skyrocketing food prices have meant that places like Aweil, which are generally peaceful, have suffered the effects of the […]
Uttarakhand may record 7 % dip in wheat yield, say agricultural scientists
DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand may record a 7% dip in wheat yield this year, according to agricultural scientists who largely blame climate changefor this. As per the latest report compiled by the state agricultural department, scanty rainfall is primarily responsible for this dip in output. Although final numbers are still being tabulated, sources in the department said that the districts of Nainital, Almora, Bageshwar, Tehri […]
