Technical Briefs are papers on topics relevant to agriculture and allied disciplines that provide detailed information on current and future issues that are of wider interest.
Importance of agriculture markets
A large majority of the poor in most developing countries are found in rural areas and, hence, there is a close correspondence between agricultural growth and poverty reduction. India is no exception, with 70% of the poor in rural areas. Another feature of the agricultural sector in developing countries of Asia is the small size of average land holding, which is further declining due to population pressure. In India, average land holding size is about 1 ha, and smallholders with less than 2 ha account for 80% of the total holdings. more…
Introduction
Current agricultural production needs to be substantially increased (>60%) to meet the growing global demand for food and livestock feed for the projected ~9.7 billion population by 2050. Considering that >54% of the children in South Asia (including India) are malnourished, improved nutrition is an equally important component of food security. Hence, we need to ensure that the supply of nutritious food is adequate to meet the demand arising from the need for better health and nutrition of human beings globally. more…
During the last two decades, there has been considerable discussion in the scientific community about how humans have been managing ecosystems and biodiversity, and some of this has percolated to the general public through different media. However, the understanding and perception of this subject among the public and non-biologists can be a bit vague, and here we try to explain it in relatively simple language for a broader and more general understanding. more…
In Part I of this brief we have tried to explain what ecosystem means, and elaborated briefly on ecosystems services and functions. We also introduced biodiversity and the need for the conservation of diversity in the biological world. In Part II, we will try to describe the relationship between ecosystems functions and how these are related to biodiversity. more…
In Part I of this brief, we tried to explain what the term ecosystem means, and elaborated briefly on ecosystems services and functions. We also introduced biodiversity and the need for the conservation of diversity in the biological world. In Part II, we described briefly the relationship between ecosystems functions and biodiversity. Here in Part III, we describe the components of biodiversity, the current thinking of GRSV on why we should be concerned about biodiversity at different levels, how conservation and use of biodiversity, focusing on agricultural biodiversity and how such efforts can be balanced with developmental efforts. more…
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