A unique rice growing plateau in the Western Ghats of India is facing a peculiar challenge – rice cultivation being increasingly replaced by the more economically lucrative banana, threatening to wipe off the gene pool of some traditional rice varieties…
by Paul R. Ehrlich,John Harte Stanford/Berkeley – Virtually everyone in the scientific community agrees that ensuring sufficient food supplies for a surging human population, which is set to grow by 2.4 billion by mid-century, will require serious work. Indeed, we…
Danielle Nirenberg 2016 is the United Nations International Year of Pulses (IYP). Pulses, or grain legumes, include 12 crops such as dry beans, dry peas, chickpeas, and lentils, which are high in protein, fiber, and micronutrients. In celebration of the…
As we wrap up 2015 at Food Tank, we are already looking forward to next year. From food safety law to a heightened focus on food waste, there are so many exciting food and agriculture stories that continue to unfold…
By Keegan Hamilton December 29, 2015 | There’s an old adage in American politics: “As Ohio goes, so goes the nation.” While it might hold true for presidential campaigns — the last candidate to reach the White House without winning…
Executive Summary “If we do persist with business as usual, the world’s people cannot be fed over the next half-century. It will mean more environmental degradation, and the gap between the haves and have-nots will expand. We have an opportunity…
Danielle Nierenberg Every Every year, Food Tank highlights organizations that contribute to creating a more sustainable global food system by protecting biodiversity, producing valuable agricultural research, fighting hunger, and much more. This year, Food Tank is featuring 116 organizations you…
Agroecology, which restores ecosystem functioning by maintaining soil health, is an effective strategy to achieve food security in the areas of the world where it is most needed. The challenge: The dramatic increase in crop production of the last 50…
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations on Tuesday declared Bangladesh’s floating garden agricultural technology as globally important agricultural heritage site (GIAHS).
Danielle Nierenberg As climate leaders gather in Paris for the 21st Session of the Conference of Parties (COP21), farmers and food leaders are paying close attention to negotiations, which will determine how global environmental policy will continue to affect the…
A new book discusses how agroecology can nourish the world and transform the currently unsustainable agro-food system. The focus is on small-scale farmers who, all over the world, are prone to food insecurity, but who nevertheless feed more than 80%…
The Oakland Institute today released 33 case studies that shed light on the tremendous success of agroecological agriculture across the African continent in the face of climate change, hunger, and poverty. “Released just two weeks ahead of the COP21 Conference…
Danielle Nierenberg This week, Food Tank is grateful for the farmers, researchers, and activists who are working tirelessly to improve the food system every day. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), getting food onto Americans’ plates accounts for…
Danielle Nierenberg The American food system is broken. Chronic diet-related diseases cost US$500 billion annually, and agriculture is the main source of water pollution in America. The Food and Drug Administration reports that 80 percent of all antibiotics are fed…
Geneva (Sangeeta Shashikant) — Negotiations on the Farmers’ Rights resolution became particularly contentious during the 6th meeting of the Governing Body of the International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) when certain delegations such as Australia,…
Malawi-Hyderabad , India – ‘• Be it in India or Africa, there is the same problem of youth wanting to leave the farms and have other careers. Attracting youth to agriculture has become an issue on the government agenda in…
Enhanced cultivation of high yielding zinc-enriched rice can ensure food and nutrition security preventing deficiency of zinc, iron and vitamin-A for normal growth of children and increasing disease resistant capacity.Experts viewed this at a farmers’ field day organised by RDRS…
Danielle Nierenberg The fall semester is in full swing and many students are enrolled in courses focused on food and agriculture. They realize that the food system is at a crossroads. Nearly a billion people suffer from hunger while at…
Danielle Nierenberg Young people are the future of food security. By 2050, youth, ages 15-24, are expected to reach 1.4 billion, or 14 percent of the population. At Food Tank, we recognise youth as the next generation of food system…
Worldwatch Institute’s Vital Signs exposes latest global peaks of production and consumption, as well as associated impacts Washington, D.C. – From coal to cars to coffee, consumption levels are breaking records. According to the Worldwatch Institute’s latest report, Vital Signs,…
Danielle Nierenberg Conventional agriculture isn’t cheap. From the use of artificial fertilizer and pesticides to the obesity epidemic, our current food system has a number of hidden costs to the natural environment and human health, far outweighing the benefits of…
The southwestern Khulna has set a target of yielding 2,24,417 tonnes of Aman in the current year as plantation of two varieties of the major crop is underway in the district, agriculture officials said yesterday.“Transplantation of Aman seedling (Bree-23) or…
Different varieties of local fruits are disappearing fast in the district due to adverse impact of climate change, use of agro-chemical in the ground and want of planning on production.Earlier, there were various indigenous fruits like Gab, Deowa, Kathbal, Safeda,…
Danielle Nierenberg There is no such thing as cheap food. Industrial agriculture is externalizing the environmental and health costs associated with food production. Worldwide, 75 billion tons of soil is lost every year, costing approximately US$400 billion per year, or…
In the wake of gradually increasing demand and lucrative market price, cultivation of arum has brought smiles on the faces of farmers in Rajshahi region including its vast Barind tract as they are getting good profit by cultivating it on…
Harvesting of T-Aus paddy of the current season has been completed in the district in the first week of the current month amid much enthusiasm.
Rajnath Singh said due to the efforts taken by BSF personnel, cattle smuggling to Bangladesh has come down. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that even the Mughals understood that if they had to rule India, they could…
Amateur farmer Borhan Uddin (45) has courageously gone for cultivation dragon fruit in Kaligonj upazila of Jhenidah and made it monstrously popular among farmers and consumers level for its high commercial and nutritional values. Borhan Uddin services as a marketing…
Jhenidah: Arum, locally known as ‘Latiraj’.The arum cultivation, a summer vegetable, has gained much popularity among the farmers of Ragunathpur Village in Kaligong upazila in Jhenidah district. Arum cultivation brings fortune for many farmers in the village.
Ian Randall Researchers in Australia are seeking to build a prototype ‘Bubble-Greenhouse’ that could provide remote, arid places with a low-tech, low-maintenance way to turn salt water into fresh water to grow food. The engineers from Murdoch University, who published…