Traditional knowledge of small farmers key to climate-smart agriculture

Proofing small farmers from weather vagaries is critical to climate adaptation

Irrigation does more than deplete groundwater, it changes climate too

More measured irrigation can help conserve water, suggests author of new study

Analysing climate-induced productivity growth in Indian agriculture

State-specific policy initiatives that allow each state’s agricultural production to reach its full potential are more likely to succeed …

Silent famine: What exactly changed in India’s wheat and rice?

The crops gained quantity but lost quality in the quest to feed India’s millions

DTE Exclusive: Did focus on yield cost India nutrition?

Down To Earth special report on how the wheat and rice that the country eats have lost their nutritional value

Silent famine: Can India halt its own weakening nutritional security?

If India has to have any chance in arresting malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency burden, nutrition has to be made a priority at par with …

Green Revolution lab Jaunti shows agriculture in crisis now

Five decades after the green revolution, Down To Earth visited the village from where it all started, to assess the agrarian crisis …

How farmers united in Punjab and Haryana during the 2023 floods

For every farmer whose crop has been ruined, there is another one who is sending him saplings from hundreds of kilometres away

Three crops rule the world: What it means for the planet’s wildlife

Over-dependence on wheat, maize and rice threatens the future of wildlife survival and global food security 

Desertification in India: How Green Revolution hastened the man-made soil degradation

The biggest threat of desertification emanates from the major crops of the Green Revolution — wheat and paddy

Scientists discover new drought-resilient wheat gene, suitable for drier soil conditions

The next step for will be to test how this gene works in diverse agronomic environments from the UK to Australia  

Punjab is usually blamed for burning paddy stubble; here is the back story to that

Paddy farming in Punjab was started to meet the food grain requirements of the country for which the state has been forced to pay a …

Why India needs to bring back nature-positive farming

The pandemic showed that human interventions in natural processes can have disastrous consequences; we should now scale up natural-positive food …

Independent India @ 75: It has taken a lot to be food-secure

From begging other countries for food to overflowing grain stocks, it has been a long journey; however, the government must adopt environment-…

Punjab Assembly Elections 2022: Ignoring the groundwater depletion problem

Blaming farmers alone won’t work; prices for crops other than paddy must be remunerative

EU subsidies benefit big farms while underfunding greener and poorer plots

At least 24 billion Euros a year goes to support incomes in the richest farming regions of the EU with the fewest farm jobs 

Africa’s green revolution initiative has faltered: Why other ways must be found

There has been a 25% increase from 2019 to 2020 in the number of severely undernourished people in the world

Millet might: Here is how Odisha can succeed in reviving these cereals lost to the Green Revolution

Odisha’s mission to bring millets back to its fields and plates needs greater marketing support and promotion beyond tribal areas 

MS Swaminathan, a legend who will live on

Swaminathan will go down in history as the person who pulled India out of the ‘hunger trap’. This was the biggest achievement of the …

How balanced soil nutrient management can save Indian agriculture

The ill-effects of imbalanced application of fertilisers — which leads to soil sickness, decline in soil health and reduces crop …

Daily Court Digest: Major environment orders (November 11, 2020)

Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal

Budget push for zero budget farming but contradictions mar Andhra’s natural agri foray

The method was promoted as low-cost investment on part of farmers, but huge amounts are being raised for statewide implementation

The Green Revolution and a dark Punjab

Punjab has paid a price for food security. The use of pesticides and fertilisers has resulted in a number of health issues for the state’s …

Bihan Mela: A seed festival aims to help tribal Kondh farmers in Odisha return to their agricultural traditions

The seed festival and bank will facilitate use of indigenous varieties and traditional farming which farmers have abandoned since the …

Of Joshimath and Martin Ravallion: The sinking town shows all that is flawed in our poverty reduction discourse

Sustainable development is no longer a buzzword; it now questions the neoliberal economic development model, whose impacts are staring us in the …