"Rainfed agriculture in India is a risky enterprise, owing to uncertainties in rainfall,” reads a World Bank article published in February 2023. More than half of India's net sown area…
India's agricultural sector stands at a crucial crossroads today, grappling with numerous challenges that threaten the livelihoods of millions of farmers and the sustainability of the planet. In recent times,…
Andhra Pradesh's Community-Based Natural Farming (APCNF) defies the popular belief that chemical fertilisers guarantee better yields. According to a comparative study of prevalent farming practices in the state, conducted over…
India's potential to produce bioenergy from surplus crop residue is lower than previously estimated, claims a study. It suggests a potential of 1313 petajoules (PJ) (1 PJ= 277778 MWh) of…
A popular snack in India, makhana, is the seed of a water lily species, Euryale ferox, found in south and east Asia. When harvested, it is actually a tough blackish…
The whirring of machines stops for an hour in the afternoon. Before heading for their lunch break, V. Kumaran, a worker, checks the PH levels at the biomethanation plants at…
This is the first in a three-part series, where Mongabay-India attempts to identify the reasons for stubble burning in central India, find out possible solutions to end stubble burning and…
With the onset of summer, Goa’s green cover was enveloped in shades of bright orange and red. Forest fires with high flames and smoke lasted for about 10 to 12…
Unseasonal rains and sudden rise in temperatures have affected the yield of the Alphonso mangoes in the state of Maharashtra, leading to an increase in its price compared to last…
At the break of dawn in Taplejung in eastern Nepal, as a rooster crows, two men grab their slingshots and head out to work. They have a long day ahead…
The massive heat wave scorching large parts of Asia has swept up Bangladesh. The country is experiencing temperatures among the highest in six decades. Bangladesh's capital city, Dhaka, saw the…
Crop raids by wild animals are increasing in Sri Lanka, and with them, the human-animal conflicts and related discourse. But a fresh debate on wildlife exploitation has arisen in the…
Every few weeks, 53-year-old agricultural entomologist Rajendra Hegde addresses a large gathering in Bengaluru, where he puts forth a proposition: imagine walking up to your rooftops or balconies and foraging…
Farmer Mahesh Chandrakar from Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari district was worried about his cow’s health. The cow had been suffering from fever for many weeks. Chandrakar tried giving all the medicines prescribed…
Armed with the idea that shifting cultivation is primitive and unsustainable, based on a certain narrative she was exposed to in the academic world, Assam-born researcher Joli Rumi Borah had…
India's wheat crop this year has been hit because of excessive rainfall in the crucial month of March, when the crop enters the vital grain-filling stage and gets ready for…
In late February, the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR), a leading scientific institute for wheat, released an advisory recommending farmers in India to spray potassium chloride on…
The 2022 Assam floods, following record-breaking rains, were the worst that the state has seen in the last decade. Soon-after, some districts faced a drought-like situation forcing farmers to work…
As the percussion ensemble of Pancharimelam evoked the spirit of temple festivals of Kerala, an elderly man, fondly called Vittachhan (Seed Father), clad in his trademark saffron sarong and white…
The Western Ghats of India are broadly divided into three subdivisions — the northern, central and southern — separated by the Goa gap and the Palghat gap respectively. Due to…