Agriculture & Rural Development

India is predominantly an agrarian country. Agriculture employs almost half of the country’s workforce. It is also responsible for providing livelihood to the majority of the country’s population. However, with the growing demand for food, the agriculture sector of the country is caught between providing food at affordable prices and generating the necessary income...

Some of the most critical developmental goals that governments strive to achieve are providing employment, securing livelihoods and improving incomes of the people. Indian economy has an advantage in the form of its favourable demographic composition. With 877 million working-age people, India is the largest young nation in the world. According to the IMF,...

With an aim to promote sustainable agriculture in the catchment area of its dams in Maval, Tata Power implemented the ‘Sustainable Agriculture Programme’ amongst tribal farmers. It sensitised over 950 farmers across 369 acres in 42 villages. Under this programme, awareness sessions were conducted for landholding farmers during the Rabi season on best agriculture practices...

Art | Science | Innovation | Traditional Knowledge | Social Relations | Community Ties | Ecological sensitivity | Sustainable Living | Diversity | Economic Balance. These are not merely keywords but point towards a system that amalgamates all these and much more. The food and agricultural systems around the world have become technology centric, pushing...

Ten thousand smallholder farmers in Andhra Pradesh are set to benefit from the introduction of sustainable irrigation products and practices under a program offered by International Development Enterprises - India (IDEI) and supported with funding from the Walmart Foundation. Providing a grant of US $750,000, the Walmart Foundation will help IDEI take its Integrating Smallholder...

Swades Foundation signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with the Government of Maharashtra on January 26, 2019, to scale up operations for 1000 “Swades Dream Villages” in Raigad and other districts in Maharashtra, over the next 5 years. Together, the Swades Foundation and the Government of Maharashtra will work towards the empowering rural communities at...

Tata Chemicals today celebrated Kasturi journey, an initiative of Tata Chemical Society for Rural Development’s (TCSRD) at a special event, where 14 exceptional women farmer leaders were awarded for their efforts in developing a national network of women ‘agripreneurs’. TCSRD event saw participation from18 institutions working for women farmers in different states as farmers, trainers,...

The SokkanOdai canal system in Tamil Nadu was almost silted and defunct, mostly due to the 2004 Tsunami and 2015 unprecedented floods, also due to neglect. Siltation and almost complete erosion of bunds rendered the large area of paddy fields on either side of the canal flood prone as there were no other ways...

Over the past few years, new development initiatives aimed at modernising agriculture like Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) aim to expand farmer incomes. Area under micro irrigation has grown 2.5 times in the last four years under PMKSY. The second cycle of the Soil Health Card (SHC) scheme is underway, which will focus on...

“Some of the major issues of the world can be tackled by inclusive farming,” said Manoj Solanki, Farmer at ‘Chintan Farms’, Shri Ram Krushna Trust. Agriculture is connected to every aspect of life. This is because it is in the centre of nature’s life and the food cycle. Too much unnatural interference in it disturbs...

Agriculture was the highest contributor to India’s GDP for the longest time. In India, agriculture was viewed as the most prestigious profession followed by trading/business and service, before the British Raj according to the historical texts. With the majority of people practising agriculture, there was no need of importing food products in the country. British...

Artificial intelligence, while not a silver bullet, could contribute to the multi-pronged efforts to tackle some of the world’s most challenging social problems. Social impact domains used by social-sector organizations and CSR committees could benefit largely, according to a report by McKinsey Global Institute. Here are 10 ways to apply AI to social good. 1....