Category: Agriculture Issues in India

[Premium] One Nation, One Ration Card Scheme – Pros & Cons

Federalism / PDS/Food Security / Schemes-Wise

India is a welfare state. This means that it is the duty of the government to ensure the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. One Nation One Ration Card Scheme seeks to provide solutions to the limitations of the previous food security schemes that were domicile-based, that is, the beneficiaries can only avail for the assistance at a fixed Public Distribution System and cannot change this without undertaking prior complex procedures.

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GM Crops in India – Pros & Cons

Agriculture Issues in India / Biotechnology / GS3 / July 2019

Under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, growing GM crops that are not approved by the government can result in a five-year jail term and a hefty ₹1 lakh fine. Yet a Haryana farmer had grown a genetically modified (GM) variant of brinjal which is banned under the law that has landed him in controversy and the officials had forced him to uproot the crop.

There are two arguments regarding GM crops – one is “its potential in terms of increased crop yields & shelf life in the context of climate change events” and the other one is the “concern regarding its reliability and impacts on the environment and human health”.

[Premium] PepsiCo Vs Potato Farmers Case – Protecting Seed Sovereignty

Agriculture Issues in India / Farmers / GS3 / IPR / May 2019

PepsiCo, a multi-million dollar conglomerate, has sued Gujarati farmers asking them to pay ₹1.05 crore each for alleged violation of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).

The company claimed that farmers violated its patent rights by cultivating the potato variety used in its chips product named Lays.

However, after facing boycott calls by potato farmers and the government’s pressure, PepsiCo has offered to withdraw the case if the farmers stop growing the registered potato variety used in its Lays chips.

This issue highlights the importance of seed sovereignty and the role played by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Act, 2001 in protecting the rights of the farmers and prevent seed monopoly.

This article explains the following in an analytical manner with a mindmap for quick revision:

  1. What is the issue?
  2. What is PepsiCo's perspective?
  3. What is the farmers' perspective?
  4. What is contract farming?
  5. What is seed sovereignty?
  6. What are the salient features of Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights (PPV&FR) Act, 2001?
  7. Why is the PPV&FR Act significant?
  8. What is the way forward?

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Nitrogen Pollution – The Biggest Environmental Threat

[GS3] Environmental Pollution & Degradation / Agriculture Issues in India / Global Warming & Climate Change / GS3 / March 2019

The UN Environment in its Frontiers report mentioned that Nitrogen Pollution is one of the biggest environmental threats faced by humans today and needs urgent measures from countries around the world.Nitrogen is essential for life, however, the excess nitrogen pollution has huge consequences on humans and the environment. It is 300 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas besides its negatives effects on air quality and the ozone layer.Altogether, humans are emitting a huge amount of reactive nitrogen that threatens health, climate, and ecosystems, making nitrogen one of the most important pollution issues facing humanity.However, pollution caused by Nitrogen is being overlooked by governments and they focus only on carbon emissions, thus ignoring the growing risks to health and the environment.