ICRISAT intern awarded for developing bio-insecticide from ‘ramphal’ leaves
Extracts from its leaves may be useful against three destructive pests — Pod borer, Green peach aphid and fall armyworm — with a …
"Zero-waste life isn't wishful thinking"
Hannah Sartin rarely dumps a plastic wrapper or paper ball as trash. At 32, she owns Munich's first zero-waste shop and has published a book that …
What changed when Ugandan farmers rated input quality and local vendor services
Should farmers buy commercial maize seeds from agro-input shops or just plant seeds from previous harvest?
Akash Chaurasia, a millionaire farmer from Bundelkhand
Multilayer farming helps this Madhya Pradesh farmer grow a combination of vegetables round the year
How to grow a food forest that will feed you everyday
What does it take to design a permaculture kitchen garden? Peter Fernandes recounts his experience of growing a food forest using permaculture in Goa
Earth health
Clinically clean, gleamingly coloured, hermetically sealed fruits and vegetables face the challenge of organic food
Vignettes from Sri Lanka's cloud country
In Sri Lanka, organic farmers draw inspiration from endemic practices such as home gardens or analog forestry, and have also adapted ‘…
Is organic farming responsible for Sri Lanka’s economic crisis?
Analysis shows that it is not organic farming, but poor economic policies that are responsible for the economic crisis
How this woman changed the lives of children by nurturing an organic farm in Faridabad
Veena Lal’s organic farm and mud house located next to her organisation and children’s home in Faridabad near Delhi …
Peepal Farm: An organic ‘No-till’ farm that sustains people and rescues animals
Robin Singh and Shivani Bhalla’s end goal is the welfare of their animals. But they have set up structures around their farm which …
FabIndia School Bali, Pali : How to make your school green
FabIndia School Bali, Pali is a shining example of resource efficiency. It draws 90 per cent of its electricity from solar, harvests rainwater, …
Magnetic nanoparticles can deliver anticancer drugs with precision
IIT Guwahati researchershas used magnetite, a metal which is readily accepted by human body and incorporated it into metal-organic frameworks for …
Baranaja: a climate resilient farming practice
Baranaja is a mixed crop farming practice from Uttarakhand based on traditional wisdom. Millets and pulses are the main crops cultivated through …
Organic paradox
Sikkim will be the first Indian state to go wholly organic. But lack of markets can become counterproductive
Stockholm Convention to take final call on 5 Persistent Organic Pollutants
United Nations Environment Programme’s proposal to list chlorpyrifos as POP was resisted by India
'Permaculture can feed the world'
A permaculturist who believes that hunger is more about distribution and quality of food than quantity and production, Malvikaa Solanki says …
Reaping organic
Karnataka was the first state to adopt a policy on organic farming in 2004. Since then, several initiatives have helped farmers fight drought, …
‘Crop residue can boost soil health’
Andy MacDonald, manager, Rothamsted long-term experiments, Rothamsted Research, UK, speaks to Down To Earth on key findings of the Broadbalk …
COVID-19 lockdown a good time to compost your waste. Here's how to do it
Home composting can shed load off workers. About 50-70% of Indian households generate waste that is organic in nature
This 45-year-old makes farming profitable for the entire Soliga tribe
Prakash roped in 30 Soliga farmers and 1,000 other marginal farmers and formed a collective to set up a millet processing unit in Karnataka's …
Why farmers in Uttarakhand prefer indigenous seeds over hybrids
In Uttarakhand, farmers are slowly shifting away from hybrid seeds to traditional varieties. They find the traditional seeds better …
Biopesticide: an organic and eco-friendly alternative to chemical pesticide
Harendra Singh Lodhiyal is a farmer who promotes sustainable and eco-friendly farming in Ramgarh block of Nainital district, Uttarakhand. He …
Can farming mean a permanent renewal of life?
For the past three decades, the practice of permaculture has found acceptance from not just rural communities in India but also from urbanites …
The grapes of growth
After setting the trend of grape cultivation in Sangli district, Ganapathyrao Mhetre is all set to introduce organic farming techniques
How Indian states are promoting organic, natural farming
States such as Odisha and Karnataka have started initiatives such as procurement of organic produce and linkages with PDS, ICDS and other schemes&…