Farmers in India face huge challenges in selling their crops profitably. So, they are demanding that the government should guarantee a Minimum Support Price (MSP) on all 23 crops that it provides for. MSP is the rate at which the government buys crops from farmers no matter what the crop’s prices prevail in the market. This assures an income to the farmers and offers them security. That is why they want that a legal guarantee should be provided for MSP.

Kick start this new year on a wise and healthy note with a mouthful of millets. Learn more about their varieties, benefits, and environmental importance. ************************************* Hi friends! Have you ever reflected upon the usual grains that we eat every day? Apart from the most popular, wheat and rice, there are a lot of other cereals that we consume like sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra), finger millet (ragi), and buckwheat (kuttu). Most of these are local foods and are prepared on special occasions like fasts or festivities...

Do you know where we got the potato from? Or why birds can have chillies but we can't?... Read some more interesting food-facts like these and know the importance of our food in this comic strip on food items, food wastage, and hunger.

A passionate movie buff and avid videographer narrates his journey through the reels on the importance of films in spreading environmental awareness. **************************** Growing up in Perumannur, a small village in Kerala, my childhood was all about ploughing fields, playful cows and calves, and a big pond where I learnt swimming. I was so close to nature that it never occurred to me if the environment—with all its greenery, birds, trees, and grass—can ever be distinctively separate from us. My training, among the lush green coconut and rice fields...

Fermented food is not only tasty but it is also good for health **************************************************************************************** Babbi tugged urgently at her Mom’s kurta. “Mom, there is some white, gooey stuff oozing out of that big pan on the kitchen slab,” she whispered. Mom looked at the direction Babbi was pointing towards. “My dosa batter” She muttered and transferred part of the gooey liquid into another pan...     

The cultivation of rice has occupied the pride of place in Kerala’s agriculture. Unending lush green paddy fields are a sight for sore eyes. But Paddy cultivation is declining in Kerala at an alarming rate. In the past 30 years, the state lost more than 70 per cent of its paddy fields. Rice producing districts like Wayanad once had 160 varieties of paddy. 55 of these varieties are now extinct. But there are people in the state who are trying to preserve this paddy biodiversity.  

Many farmers are eschewing high-yielding hybrid rice for indigenous varieties for their high nutritional value and resistance to changing weather patterns

There are some schools that have taken up energysaving initiatives to become energy-efficient. Electric bulbs, cars, fans, air conditioners, televisions, cooking ovens, chulhas, machines... the word ‘energy’ conjures up images of almost everything that makes up our everyday lives. Some forms of energy are renewable, including energy harnessed from the sun, wind and water. Energy produced from garbage, such as dead trees, branches, leftover crops and gobar, or dung, along with other forms of livestock manure—resources collectively called ‘biomass’—can also be used and then replenished. There …

The beautiful and healthy lotus stems—you can find these stems being sold by roadside vendors, especially along roads that run by a river or a pond. The light brown or white, sausage-like tubular vegetable has holes in it. These are lotus stems and they are used widely in Indian, Chinese and Japanese cuisine. They are relished for their taste and nutritional value. Known in Hindi as bhe or kamal kakri, the lotus stem contains hollow air channels that run the length of the stem. It is crunchy, sweet and tastes like water chestnut. It has a delicate flavour and is suitable for eating raw or cooked...

With her hair neatly oiled and braided, wearing her green-and-white school uniform, Selvi sat on the mat waiting for Amma to get her favourite tiffin of idlis and carrot sambar. But today, as she waited she couldn’t smell the usual aroma from the kitchen. 'Here you go, Selvi, finish your tiffin and go to school!' Amma placed a plate with idlis and coconut chutney. 'Before you ask me, let me tell you, no carrot sambar...