TRADITIONAL FOODS
Re-seeding the past for a better future

Tribal communities in Similipal are being encouraged to conserve seeds and water, use bio-inputs and inter-crop millets with other crops. Farmers are optimistic that this can bring them food security and better livelihoods. 

#Adivasis #Organic #Agriculture #ODISHA
YIELDS AND LIVELIHOODS
Has precision farming's moment arrived
YIELDS AND LIVELIHOODS : Has precision farming's moment arrived

India needs to grow a lot more food, and do it sustainably to be able to meet its future food security and also keep its climate commitments. Precision farming is still nascent in the country, but could offer a way forward.

#Organic #Agriculture
CONTENT SELECTION
What drives media reporting?
CONTENT SELECTION : What drives media reporting?

Do reader preferences influence how the media selects what to report on? A study of media coverage of land conflicts, the Covid-19 crisis and the Farm Bills provides some answers.

#The Press #Agriculture #Media
ON UNFIRM GROUND
Erosion-hit Assam farmers turn to horticulture

Amidst the gloom of lives endlessly disrupted by river erosion, a few farmers are successfully experimenting with horticulture in the heart of the very river that is swallowing their lands.

#Climate #Horticulture #Agriculture #ASSAM
LIFE ON A CHAR
River erosions batter the landless in Assam

The Brahmaputra has eroded lands along its course repeatedly, forcing villagers along its embankments to find new homes and work each time, in a perpetual struggle to stabilise their lives and livelihoods.

#Climate #Agriculture #ASSAM
NATURAL RESOURCES
A landscape of degradation
NATURAL RESOURCES : A landscape of degradation

Poor governance of natural resources is undermining progress in curbing emissions. It is also weakening the resilience of vulnerable people who are affected by climate change.

#Adivasis #Environmental Regulation #Environment #RAJASTHAN
CITIES FOR ALL
Ahmedabad's TP schemes: Lessons for equity

Land pooling has helped steer development in Ahmedabad more equitably than in many other Indian cities, but with some limitations and challenges still to be overcome.

#Cities #Government
TELANGANA'S FARMERS
Registration of informal land sales
TELANGANA'S FARMERS : Registration of informal land sales

Telangana’s free registration of plain paper land sale initiative to digitally clean up its land records not only benefits its dispossessed farmers but makes land governance transparent, reports Manipadma Jena.

#Agriculture #TELANGANA
PORT REDEVELOPMENT
On the waterfront in Mumbai
PORT REDEVELOPMENT : On the waterfront in Mumbai

Mumbai’s port land should be redeveloped to benefit, among others, the dock workers and slum dwellers, says a recently released report by city based NGOs Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA) and Hamara Shehar Vikas Niyojan Abhiyaan. Darryl D’Monte analyses the report.

#People #MAHARASHTRA
MUMBAI KOLIWADAS
The catch regarding Mumbai’s fishing villages

Fishing villages in Mumbai are probably more threatened than those in other cities, due to the dizzy densification of the country’s commercial capital, writes Darryl D’Monte.

#Fisheries #People #MAHARASHTRA
COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT
When women unite
COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT : When women unite

A meticulous initiative by an NGO in remote tribal districts of Odisha has brought women from the local communities together, enabling them to wrest their rights and entitlements under laws such as the FRA and MGNREGA. Abhijit Mohanty writes on the project.

#Forests #Laws #Women #ODISHA
RESETTLEMENT AND REHABILITATION
CAG report on Odisha: Will legislators take note please?

As Parliament debates the amended land acquisition and mining laws, Himanshu Upadhyaya draws attention to the report of an audit of Odisha’s resettlement and rehabilitation policy that clearly highlights the threats to displaced communities.

#Displacement #Government #Laws
LAND, FOOD AND BIODIVERSITY
Why the land acquisition law is a threat to several others

The government’s push to the amended land acquisition law overlooks provisions in other acts that address closely related issues such as food security and conservation of biodiversity, writes Shalini Bhutani.

#Biodiversity #Food Security #Government #Laws
DEVELOPMENT & DISPLACEMENT
Three villages that show why land acquisition needs a rethink

Three million forest dwellers in Odisha are estimated to have been displaced since independence by various industrial and hydro-projects, among which the Upper Indiravati Hydro Project is one. Abhijit Mohanty brings us the story of three tribal settlements uprooted by it.

#Displacement #Poverty #ODISHA
LESSONS FROM THE SEZ EXPERIENCE
Why easy land is no guarantee of industrial growth
LESSONS FROM THE SEZ EXPERIENCE : Why easy land is no guarantee of industrial growth

It’s like a scam unnoticed: even after access to over 45000 hectares of land, with massive tax exemptions and holidays, the SEZ experience has been a sorry story. Devinder Sharma questions the government’s economic reasoning and insists on accountability.

#Devinder Sharma #Public Funds #Economy #Ground Reality