The intensification and extension of modern agriculture is amongst the greatest threats to worldwide biodiversity and thereby food security. Promotion of genetic uniformity in the name of agricultural development cannot lead to sustainable agriculture and it has devastating effect on food security of next generation. Monoculture and replacement of traditional varieties by improved or exotic varieties has led to the decline of many traditional varieties in crops such as paddy, wheat, pulses, oil seeds and cotton in India. Thousands of varieties of rice, cotton, minor millets, pulses, and other crops are no longer in use. Besides, to sustain the yield under monocropping system, heavy pesticide applications were given to crops. This in turn affects the soil microbial population and insect diversity and questions the stability and sustainability of Indian agriculture. Sustainable farming systems such as organic farming act as a possible solution to this continued loss of biodiversity. This paper assesses the impacts of organic farming, relative to conventional agriculture on biodiversity, through a review of comparative studies of the two systems.
The study has identified the determinants of choice probability and amount of demand for major fruits at the household level in India by utilizing consumer expenditure survey data collected by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) for the years 2004-05 and 2011-12. Heckman sample selection model has been used to estimate the functional relationship between household level characteristics and fruit consumption as the zero expenditure is encountered for some households in the data set. The study has revealed that increase in prices of fruits has an inverse relationship with fruits consumption. The consumption expenditure on fruits in India has increased with increase in income with time. Considering high prices and lower production of fruits, the government should adopt appropriate measures to increase plantation of fruit crops. There is also the need to generate awareness regarding health effects of fruit consumption, particularly among younger generation.
This note reports the first sighting of the elusive and threatened Nilgiri marten in Wayanad district of Southern Western Ghats. All the previously known occurrences of Nilgiri marten in the Western Ghats, along with the addition of this new record, were marked on a map. This record highlights the need for further studies on this population’s status and behavior, as well as to understand whether any coexistence or conflicts occur with local people, thereby examining underlying threats to the population in the Wayanad region.
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