Full Coverage: Soils

10.01.2008 The use of urea deep placement (UDP) increases rice yields by 25 per cent while using up less quantities of urea. The Bangladesh government now plans to extend this technique to various sub-districts for effective fertiliser usage and increased food production.

21.12.2007 Protecting endangered peatland areas will drastically reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

30.11.2007

06.11.2007 South Asian countries rely heavily on rainwater for irrigation. But with the employment of ‘zero tillage’ technique, the irrigation demand for rice and wheat farming has substantially come down.

30.10.2007 The Jatropha scrub weed can weather droughts, stop soil erosion, transform barren lands into lush greenery, while providing self-sufficient energy for rural communities – all at the same time. While India has plans to make the plant its chief biofuel source, there is little knowledge on the environmental impact of its cultivation.

26.10.2007 After decades of promoting urea, the Indian government has decided to remodel its fertilizer subsidy based on its study of soil ecology. The excessive use of urea based fertilizers has led to a decline in soil fertility in parts of the country.

24.10.2007 Drains stretching over dozens of miles were built to solve the problems of flooding along the Indus in the Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan, but have brought their own social and ecological problems. The World Bank claims to have spent 18 million dollars in 2004-2006 on improving living conditions in areas harmed by the National Drainage Project (NDP). They proposed further measures through 2016 to combat flooding and improve irrigation and drainage

23.10.2007

11.10.2007

05.10.2007 Small glaciers in Kashmir, India have disappeared while big ones are decreasing in size because of global warming, says a recent report by Action Aid International.

06.07.2007 Children and teachers of a private school in India’s southern state of Karnataka have started to educate nearby districts on ways to conserve rainwater. Its recently opened rain centre displays many models of rural rainwater harvesting.

17.04.2007

29.11.2006 Take a closer look at what's in the food we eat.

23.03.2006 Mounting debt and a largely indifferent government are leading to rural distress and forcing communities to sell their land in India's Punjab province, explains analyst Devinder Sharma. What started as an isolated case is spreading as more villages are forced to deal with the ill-effects of the "Green Revolution."

17.02.2006 The world's plants are using less water, thanks to boosted atmospheric carbon dioxide – it may mean raised rivers and greater flood risks.

16.02.2006 The level of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere is likely to grow more than expected as soil bacteria, in response to rising temperatures, break down more organic material and produce more CO2, according to results by an international research team.

16.01.2006 [HYDERABAD] Scientists have urged South Asian nations to cooperate to boost their economies by tapping growing global demand for agricultural products such as herbal medicines that are derived from biological resources and traditional knowledge.

02.01.2006 The UN has launched its International Year of Deserts and Desertification to raise global public awareness of the advancing deserts, of ways to safeguard the biological diversity of arid lands covering one-third of the planet and protecting the knowledge and traditions of the 2 billion people affected by the phenomenon.

06.12.2005 The soil is deficient in nutritional value, there is an alarming level of degradation coupled with the obvious loss of fertility and decline of organic matter. This has come to pose a serious challenge for the agriculture experts of Punjab in India.

17.10.2005 A three-pronged strategy is needed — sustaining the gains already achieved, extending them to rainfed areas, and ensuring new gains through diversification and value addition.