Indigenous women leaders from different regions of Peru met in the city of Lima to participate in the face-to-face seminar of the Leadership School of Indigenous Women, a joint initiative of the International Indigenous Women Forum (IIWF-FIMI) and FAO. 13 indigenous women representatives of organizations related to women empowerment, nutrition, agriculture...

The Ministry of Finance of the Republic of India and the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD are co-organizing a national round-table workshop - in collaboration with IFAD’s Asia and the Pacific Division ¬ to discuss the main issues emerging from the evaluation of IFAD’s country programme in India, as...

The establishment of REDD/ REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation programme), in 2010, as a key strategy to combat climate change, has been applauded by world leaders. In practice, REDD entails sinking carbon in standing stocks of trees, and raising new plantations, often on indigenous territories. From previous...

n September 2015, members of the UN adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for 2030. These goals are a continuation of the Millennium Development Goals, which ended on 2015.Sustainable development is defined as meeting the needs of the present generation without harming the capacity of future generation to meet their needs. It focuses...

To commemorate the International Year of Family Farming, the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Chennai and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, organised an Asia Pacific Regional Consultation at Chennai in August 2014. Several background papers were prepared...

Parthasarathi,a software engineer turns farmer from Ananthapur district, practicing best methods in Natural farming. His natural practices in Papaya & inter crop system are inspiring.In this Video,Parthasarthi explains the Tips on how to grow papaya inter crop system and how to deal with the diseases such as mealybugs and ring...

Farmer Field Schools serve as a platform for mutual learning among farmers and resource persons. Interactions, discussions and hands on training provides an opportunity to revive and sustain traditional knowledge while making improvements through modern science.

Only a small number of governments have established meaningful and effective farmer-centred measures for the implementation of access and benefit sharing of genetic resources. One reason is the highly complex nature of the international regulatory system. This special issue of Farming Matters magazine presents practical ways in which access and...

India is the land of farmers. Agriculture being the prime occupation of the masses, the sector consists of a big number of farmers who are either into the agricultural or allied activities. The present legal system consists of the laws which are scattered both in their application and approach to...

Earthworm compost can increase soil fertility and help increase the production of vegetables in poor and salty soils. Here we will learn about a fast and easy way to make earthworm compost on a small piece of land.

This publication provides guidance on using a common methodology for monitoring pollinator diversity and abundance, as part of the GEF supported Project “Conservation and Management of Pollinators for Sustainable Agriculture, through an Ecosystem Approach” implemented in seven countries - Brazil, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan and South Africa. The project...

This policy brief discusses ways to scale up agroecological approaches and suggests actionable advice tailored for various stakeholders, including policy-makers, private sector, financial partners, research and development community and civil society. The brief focuses on how to design scaling up initiatives and provides success as well as failure stories.

Even as many pockets of the state, including its capital, battle the ravages of development and consumerism, a couple of villages visited by the author stand as examples of resilient local economies and lifestyles.  The village is not very old; it all began in 1963 with three families. Nongtraw comprises of...

As part of a Unileveler-funded Project, CABI in South Asia and the Tocklai Tea Research Institute (TTRI) in India organized a workshop on sustainable tea production. Entitled ‘A non-chemical approach to pest management’, the workshop was held on 18 February at the Tocklai Tea Research Institute, Jorhat, and looked at ecological...

Various agro-ecological practices have existed in the region, primarily as an alternative to conventional chemical-intensive farming based on Green Revolution prescriptions. These alternatives are often directed at enhancing soil fertility, through organic matter management and water conservation. Throughout Asia and the Pacific, different terms are used for specific practices including:...

Indigenous Engineering Techniques on Diary Farming - Success story of Tinson, State Ksheersree Award Winner, Aiswara Diary Farm , Kollam 

Despite a growing dairy industry in India, farmers’ lack of access to organized markets and institutional credit remains one of the major hindrances in improving the scale and productivity of dairying. Using data from a survey of 612 households from the state of Punjab, India, this paper evaluates farmers’ choices...

Patents increasingly undermine the strong legal edifice patiently constructed by UPOV (1).The Treaty guarantees free access to the main industrial resource of plant breeders - peasants’ seeds collected from farms across the world. This article argues that broadening the reach of patents over genetic resources is increasingly replacing benefit sharing,...

India faces a dual crisis related to food and agriculture. First is the malnutrition and hunger crisis. Every 4th Indian is hungry. Every third women is severely malnourished. Every second child is “wasted”. This is not “Shinning India” but “Starving India”. The second aspect of the crisis is the agrarian...

Beginning this year, the Indian government is trying to create a unique brand which will be called “Make in India” which can be applied to 25 sectors such as space, tourism and hospitality, wellness, and many more. Food processing is also one the area of focus. Advantages of development in the food processing...