AGRICULTURE
Winning the battle against hunger
This revival in Andhra Pradesh shows how a variety of millets can fight hunger even during drought, keep farmers debt-free, and provide much-needed nutrition without using pesticides.
Hunger
April 2010

CHEMICAL-FREE FOOD
Organic veggies in my Inbox
In operation now for more than two years, Gorus has a network of about 50 committed families as consumers and 25 farmers as suppliers, and growing steadily.
February 2010

AGRICULTURE/HEALTH
Good food, Indian-style
They are two simple, rural women, living in rural Andhra Pradesh, in an area known for arid soils and poverty. And yet, the secret to the their healthy skins lies in good nutrition.
Andhra Pradesh
March 2009

AGRICULTURE
Timbaktu Organic is scaling up
This year, 160 farmers in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district committed 480 acres for organic production. Two complete cycles of procurement, processing, and marketing of organic produce in a number of cities have already been completed. Rajni Bakshi says Timbaktu Organic is expanding.
Agriculture trade | Andhra Pradesh
December 2006

SCIENTIFIC STUDIES
Nothing unscientific about it
The scientific establishment remains highly sceptical about organic methods. But Dr Tarak Kate and his colleagues at a Wardha-based NGO have collected data systematically, about cropping patterns and yields, to negate the charge that this alternative is unscientific and unproven. Darryl D'Monte reports.
Maharashtra
August 2006

PUNJAB DIARY
Farmers persist with organic, see results
For a number of reasons including frustration with chemical agriculture, improved economic prospects and concern for nature, some farmers in Punjab are growing organic. Kavitha Kuruganti travelled around parts of the state to meet a number of farmers and dealers of organic products last month.
Punjab
October 2005

TEA
An organic cup of tea, please
Since 1980, organic tea consumption has grown by leaps and bounds. India too has joined this new green revolution with many farmers already growing organic tea or converting their plantations to do so. However many barriers have to be overcome before this sector realises its full potential. K V Prayukth reports.
March 2005

SUCCESS IN TRANSITION
Organic farming takes hold in Rajasthan
Large numbers of farmers have opted for a way of cultivation that does away with chemical pesticides, and most importantly, uses less water in a water-starved state. The dramatic results are nowhere more visible than in Rajasthan's Shekhawati belt, reports Deepa A.
Rajasthan
March 2005

2004 BUDGET PROPOSALS
A revolution long turned brown
The measure of the Budget lies in whether the proposals have the potential to provide an effective solution to the crisis of the agrarian community. On that score, says Kasturi Das, there will be little to cheer as long as the government persists with the failed Green Revolution model.
Agriculture Policy
August 2004

Transitioning to organic
Increasingly, farmers in green-revolution belts are becoming aware of the long-term economic, health and ecological benefits of switching to organic farming. But is the trajectory of the switchover smooth? What are the costs?
Agriculture policy
June 2004

Putting away the toxic spray
Farmers in Andhra Pradesh's Warangal district are doing the math, and learning that the chemistry that kills their pests is taking its toll on them as well. Slowly, as elsewhere in India, here too they are saying farewell to the pesticides that once promised so much, but now threaten both livelihood and lives. Ramesh Menon reports.
Hazards | Andhra Pradesh
June 2004

A ray of hope in Nasik
Cautiously, but with conviction, some farmers are switching to organic farming, and bidding goodbye to the pesticide-driven harvests of the Green Revolution. The government is of little help, and pesticide dealers still have considerable influence, but a growing number of farmers are putting the long-term health of their land first. Ramesh Menon reports.
Maharashtra
May 2004

An easier choice
A new bio-fertilisation solution offers protection for the long-term health of soils, as well as a cheaper alternative to traditional chemical treatment. Just as importantly, it works much faster than organic manure, letting farmers switch to organic cultivation more easily. Rasika Dhavse reports.
April 2004

Organic : to combat pesticide residues
In its report this February on pesticides in soft drinks and beverages, the JPC has acknowledged the need for better agricultural practices. Kasturi Das makes a broad assessment of conventional agriculture and argues that there is a strategic case for a shift to organic agriculture in India.
Agriculture policy | Environment | Guest column
March 2004

35 acres, organic and profitable
Anitha Pailoor profiles a large landholding family farm in Karnataka's Hassan district that switched from chemical farming to organic in the mid-nineties.
Karnataka
January 2004

Market-driven and sustainable?
In a significant move, the Kerala government has decided to promote the production and marketing of organic food. C Surendranath reports.
November 2003

No ordinary farm
On G S Gidde Gowda's farm outside Hassan, the theories of conventional farming take a backseat, while he applies a systematic preference for nature's own hand.
April 2003