
Mongabay series: Conserving Agro-biodiversity
The Conserving Agrobiodiversity series looks at a gamut of stories from the fields of India -- from technological advances to traditional knowledge, from saving seeds to modifying them -- all focussed towards protecting the diversity of crops and food we eat and efforts to ensure food security for generations to come. In the quest to feed a burgeoning population, India's agriculture is scrambling for ways to keep up production in the face of climate change and livelihood challenges. Whether it is going back to basic natural farming methods, unlocking genetic diversity of primary crops or bringing traditional grains back into vogue, institutions and individuals across the country and working on new and old ways of conserving agrobiodiversity.


Could tribal honey hunters help save the bees and improve our food security?

Return of indigenous crops helps reduce farm distress and restore ecosystems

[Commentary] Shifting cultivation landscapes in transition

[Commentary] Zero budget natural farming is not a one-size fits all solution

Going back to the roots with natural farming

Crops under shifting cultivation hit in Mizoram villages: Study

Invasive whiteflies on coconut palms raise biosecurity concerns

Are changing agricultural practices responsible for vanishing happiness in remote Tripura hamlets?

How wild mushroom delicacies in Goa are threatening its forests

Making children resilient to droughts

An agroforestry scientist’s notes on Kodagu, coffee and climate change

Fall armyworm, destroyer of maize farms, causes concern in India

Enormous alien fish spotted in Kerala’s rivers after the 2018 floods

How going organic brought hope to MP’s cotton farmers and the wildlife around them

Spotlighting the rising stars: Neglected crops in saline areas in a changing climate

There’s bajra in my beer!

Community farming in Goa emerges as a tool against land conversion

What is preventing the widespread adoption of biopesticides in India?

Kutch’s Wagad or Kala cotton: Back from the (almost) dead
Special series
Wetland Champions
- [Commentary] India establishes the largest network of Ramsar Sites in South Asia
- [Commentary] Wetland champions: Promise from the grassroots
- The story of Jakkur lake sets an example for inclusive rejuvenation projects
- Welcome to Tsomgo lake: Please don’t litter

Environment And Health
- [Commentary] Neglecting household biomedical waste management can lead to adverse environmental effects
- No magic bullets to deal with snakebites
- Six years on, cyclone Ockhi survivors battle lingering mental health impacts
- Gig workers in India are exposed to highly polluted air and carcinogens, finds preliminary study

Almost Famous Species
- Genetic insights of the Kempholey night frog offer better conservation strategies
- Saving India’s only ape, the hoolock gibbon
- [Interview] “Favourable conditions and diet important for ex-situ conservation of wild cats”
- A 100 camera traps to monitor rusty-spotted cats in Keoladeo National Park

Eco Hope
- How the loss of a natural dye-producing plant initiated the idea of a village sanctuary
- Green pilgrimage model balances faith and conservation
- [Video] Restoring the perennial Thamirabarani river with people power
- [Interview] Conservation scientist Joli Rumi Borah on integrating traditional knowledge in research

India's Iconic Landscapes
- [Commentary] Up close and personal with the fragility of the Himalayas
- Studies reveal impact of land use on species diversity in rock outcrops
- Improved tiger numbers come with hidden messages on invasives, habitat connectivity
- Gymnosperms that are critical for coniferous forest health may be steadily declining in response to climate change

Beyond Protected Areas
- Pythons return home, slowly but surely, finds a new study
- Grassland loss threatens endemic birds in Arunachal sanctuary
- Genetic insights of the Kempholey night frog offer better conservation strategies
- Loss of forest cover in Kashmir is pitting a protected animal against the world’s costliest spice

Conserving Agro-biodiversity
- Adivasis of Kerala’s Attappadi hills revive millet cultivation to preserve a fading tradition
- [Commentary] Erratic weather, altered social dynamics disrupt mahua economy in eastern India
- Horseshoe crab decline sparks urgent conservation plea
- Production of rugra, a nutritious mushroom found in Jharkhand, impacted by weather changes

Just Transitions
- [Video] Rooftop solar, an emerging solution to Bihar’s land shortage that’s stalling renewable progress
- India needs to face challenge of funding thermal power plant closure, says new report
- With no primary data on impacts, government approves an oil extraction technique 500 m outside forests
- Climate action not on track to meet Paris Agreement goals, says Global Stocktake report
