Sri Lanka is struggling with a severe food crisis. The food prices have skyrocketed and people are struggling to manage food inflation. Talks are rife that the country’s decision to switch to organic farming from the conventional farming methods of using chemical inputs caused the crisis. There...

Our food and vegetables largely come from farms that use chemical fertilizers and pesticides which leave a toxic trace on what we eat. There is a certain perception that we eat has much poison. Many campaigns have been launched to popularise organic and natural farming. Outlets purportedly...

Farmers’ Market is a popular concept in Europe in which the farmers who produce food could directly market to the consumers. The objective of the farmers’ market is that the farmer who produces food should be able to fix the price of their produce. It eliminates middlemen interference and...

The number of farmers growing traditional rice varieties is increasing every year. Mappillai Samba, Karuppu Kavuni are favourites. The traditional rice farmers are spread over several districts including Tiruvannamalai, Tiruvarur, Cuddalore, Madurai and Thanjavur. The greatest challenge is...

Dear friends: While I sit to write this column the only thought that comes to me is the passing away of Nel Jayaraman in a city hospital after a prolonged battle with cancer, I am at loss as to where to begin writing about the great contributions of a simple man. Most media tributes say he is a...

‘Arasiyal’ is the Tamil word for politics and some elders used to say that it originated from ‘arisi’, the Tamil word for rice. Yes, it is true and it is obvious that this tiny foodgrain has even overturned many governments. It is no exaggeration to say that the Dravidian parties came to power...