Food and Nutrition

In this paper, the authors examine the current debates around India's water crisis and its implications for food security in the country. The paper takes a critical look at the recent official assessments of groundwater exploitation in India in the context of these debates.

The paper proposes that there is a need to make a qualitative assessment of the magnitude of food security and water management challenges facing the country. It argues that two important factors drive the agricultural growth and food production in India. These include access and availability of arable land and water resources, which need to be examined and analysed with particular reference to their regional variations, to get a true understanding of the situation.

Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative (SSI) is an approach to the cultivation of sugarcane, that can reduce inputs - water, chemical fertilizers, seed material and farm space - while improving sugarcane production significantly. It also reduces crop duration and provides a longer period of the cane crushing season to the sugar industry.

This farm-based approach (as opposed to crop-based) also gives farmers options to grow intercrops, such as pulses to improve their income. Most importantly, SSI reduces the overall pressure on water resources and contributes to recovery of ecosystems. It conserves soil moisture, thereby allowing for growing of dryland crops in the same region.

SSI is inspired from the successful approach of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) paddy cultivation, which like SSI, originated from farmers and civil society to improve agricultural productivity while reducing pressure on natural resources.

Organizer: Water and Food Equitable Distribution Organisation (WEDO)

Topics:

• Making more surface water available
• Sustainable and enduring solutions for water

Venue: Henry Maudslay Hall, Anna University, Chennai

Description:

WEDO ( Water and Food Equitable Distribution Organisation) is a unique Initiative of professionals and experts with hands-on experience, a Think-tank of the free enterprise with lateral thinking to design and evolve projects on a scientific and technological basis to provide acceptable engineering solutions to be proposed to the nation:  Models, designs and plans for  Production,  storage  and distribution of vital resources in India.

Organizers:

• South Against Genetic Engineering
• Bangalore Film Society
• Era Organics
• ICRA
• Pristine Organics
• Bhoomi Network
• Green Foundation
• Svaraj

Venue: Ashirvad, No. 30 St. Mark's Road Cross, Opp. State Bank of India, Bangalore 560 001

Organizer: The Bangalore Film Society

Venue: Visthar, Bangalore

Deascription: The Bangalore Film Society presents a 1-day film festival on Food Sovereignty and Food Security on May 1st at the Festival of Just Peace, Visthar Bangalore.

'Towards REAL food ecurity for India!' puts together significant data and analysis to prove that a solution is required and is possible to alleviate/eliminate hunger in India with the largest number of hungry people in the world and for this we need to grow more food.

To do this, we need much more water than presently being tapped / harnessed / used and therfore, to implement schemes to impound water wasting into the Sea, is required sans futher delay.

International Workshop on “Tackling Water and Food Crisis in South Asia: Insights from the Indus Gangetic Basin”
CPWF Basin Focal Project for the IG Basin
International Water Management Institute
2-3 December 2009, The Silver Oak Room, India Habitat Center, New Delhi, India

Bhoomi Network is organising a 2 day 'Be the Change' Conference on Food, Health and Climate Change at St.John's Auditorium, Kormangala, Bangalore - 35.

The UN Panel on Climate Change is informing the world on what damage global warming can cause. But a recent study shows how temperature changes have already hit the global economy and Indian agriculture is suffering the brunt of it.

Climage Change, Indias perceptions, positions, policies and possibilities, written by Jyoti K Parikh and Kirit Parikh, Indira Gandhi