Agriculture & Rural Development

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....

The trees of the Jhinkargadi forest have been nurtured for three generations by the villagers of Balarampur in Odisha. For more than four decades, since 1972 the villagers, especially women have been involved in taking care of the forest. Everyone from the village is part of the traditional rotational forest patrolling routine, under which...

The Aspirational District Programme (ADP) aims to address governance issues by using a combination of approaches: lifting levels of aspirations through a vision and district plan, adequate institutional arrangements, convergence in all stakeholders’ efforts and above all, ranking based public competition among the districts by setting up a real-time monitoring mechanism. Setting off a virtuous...

The Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) was launched on January 5, 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Under phase-1 of ADP, 115 districts were identified based on the level of human development, physical infrastructure, threat of left-wing extremism (LWE) and the views of state governments. Over 15% of India’s population lives in these districts. Despite economic...

N/Core, the Bangalore based incubator for non-profit start-ups, celebrated the graduation of ten non-profits solving problems of poverty through innovative solutions in education and housing. The open cohort received over 1150 applications from architects, educators, and artists, which was jointly supported by Mphasis F1 Foundation (Mphasis’s CSR arm), Omidyar Network and D.E. Shaw India CSR....

Stubble burning is a norm among farmers in northern India. The practice includes intentional burning of the straw stubble remains of the crop after it is harvested. However, this activity was causing extreme pollution in the environment. In fact, in October 2018, stubble burning in Punjab was responsible for 32% of the pollution in Delhi,...

HDFC Bank Ltd. has announced the successful completion of its Holistic Rural Development Programme (HRDP) in 5 villages in the Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh. Through this initiative, 824 households will now have access to potable water for drinking and farming as well as training in new and improved agriculture practices. HRDP is a flagship...