Sustainable Agriculture

The global population is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, raising concerns about feeding these increasing numbers without further degrading the environment. Our work focuses on bringing sustainability in agricultural practices by developing plant and microbe derived products that reduce the use of chemical fertilisers while substantially improving crop yields. We are making strides in using nano biotechnology to develop a range of green products including nano-fertilisers, superfoods and algal based bioenergy. We demonstrate change by helping farming communities improve their livelihood through our products and practices.

agriculture narrative

NEW IN SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

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  • Agricultura Coalition

     

    Discussion

    Food and Land Resources: Incorporating Watershed-Based Approaches for Better Sustainability-Productivity Balance

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  • Mycorrhizal Research

    Report

    State of Science, Technology and Innovation Skills for Sustainability of India's Food and Land-use Systems

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  • cooling plants

     

    Recent Events

    Nanobiotechnology in natural food colours

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  • TERI and CFCL

     

    Launch

    TERI and CFCL launch Mycorrhiza Product

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  • cooling plants

     

    Report

    Locked houses, Fallow lands: Climate Change and Migration in Uttarakhand, India

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Projects

sustainable agriculture

Development of Molecular Tools For Detecting Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi In The Environment

TDNBC

TERI-Deakin Nanobiotechnology Research Centre

DTD-RNA

DBT - TDNBC - DEAKIN – Research Network Across continents for learning and innovation (DTD-RNA)

Articles

Connecting with the Community: How FOLU India engages farmers to improve nutrition

Ms Meena Sehgal
,
Ms Vidhu Gupta

 

Nano steps towards Climate Smart Agriculture

Its deceptively small size is no measure of its impact. Nanotechnology may work at a small scale, but the minuscule size of nanomaterials belies their efficiency. Little wonder then that the technology is being increasingly applied in agriculture to enhance efficacy and, importantly, to shrink the adverse impact of conventional chemical fertilizers on the environment and health.

A comparative assessment of biomass pretreatment methods for the sustainable industrial upscaling of rice straw into cellulose

Source- Cellulose

Publisher- Springer Nature

Year- 18 March 2023

Weblink- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10570-023-05161-4

This paper gives a comprehensive characteristic comparison of cellulose-rich variants obtained from the rice straw using different pretreatment methods along with the preliminary cost analyses indicating their potential economic feasibility.

International Year of Millets

Renewed Focus on Nutrition Storehouse

The United Nations General Assembly at its 75th session in March 2021 declared 2023 the International Year of Millets (IYM 2023). In this article, Livleen K Kahlon says that with the UNGA declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets, there’s a renewed focus on these nutritious grains. This move will serve best in the interest of developing countries, where almost 97 per cent of global millet production happens. But, it is going to take a lot of effort to change the mindset and lifestyles of consumers towards a millet-positive diet.

India’s Women Farmers: The Unimagined Mass

India is known for its agricultural produce, but what we do not know, or perhaps tend to overlook, is the contribution of women in the growth of this sector. In this article, Himanshu Kumar and Vivek Kumar enlighten us about the role of women in the agriculture sector and some of the problems they face.

TERI and CFCL launch Mycorrhiza Product

Partnering with The Energy and Resources Institute's (TERI) SMART Agrisolutions, Chambal Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited (CFCL) launched their first Mycorrhiza Product in the Mycorrhiza category of biofertilizers. The Advanced Mycorrhizal Biofertilizer product has been named- “UTTAM SUPERRHIZA”.

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Events

World Sustainable Development Summit 2024

February 7, 2024
to February 9, 2024

 7-9 February 2024 | New Delhi

SDG Blueprint for Sustainable Agriculture: Second Expert Consultation (26th September)

November 26, 2023
to November 26, 2023

The project SDG Blueprint for Sustainable Agriculture conducted five expert consultations to seek insights into the interlinkages between the SDGs and sustainable agriculture at the policy interface at the national level in India.

The consultations witnessed the participation of 123 experts hailing from diverse backgrounds including government, think tanks, international organizations, businesses, and academics.

The first expert consultation took place on 26th September 2023 and covered SDG 1, SDG 3, SDG 4, SDG 5 and SDG 10.

SDG Blueprint for Sustainable Agriculture: First Expert Consultation (22nd September)

November 22, 2023
to November 22, 2023

The project SDG Blueprint for Sustainable Agriculture conducted five expert consultations to seek insights into the interlinkages between the SDGs and sustainable agriculture at the policy interface at the national level in India.

The consultations witnessed the participation of 123 experts hailing from diverse backgrounds including government, think tanks, international organizations, businesses, and academics.

The first expert consultation took place on 22nd September 2023 and covered SDG 7, SDG 13, and SDG 14.

SDG Blueprint for Sustainable Agriculture: Fifth Expert Consultation (12th October)

October 12, 2023
to October 12, 2023

The project SDG Blueprint for Sustainable Agriculture conducted five expert consultations to seek insights into the interlinkages between the SDGs and sustainable agriculture at the policy interface at the national level in India.

The consultations witnessed the participation of 123 experts hailing from diverse backgrounds including government, think tanks, international organizations, businesses, and academics.

The first expert consultation took place on 12th October 2023 and covered SDG 9, SDG 11, and SDG 12.

SDG Blueprint for Sustainable Agriculture: Fourth Expert Consultation (10th October)

October 10, 2023
to October 10, 2023

The project SDG Blueprint for Sustainable Agriculture conducted five expert consultations to seek insights into the interlinkages between the SDGs and sustainable agriculture at the policy interface at the national level in India.

The consultations witnessed the participation of 123 experts hailing from diverse backgrounds including government, think tanks, international organizations, businesses, and academics.

The first expert consultation took place on 10th October 2023 and covered SDG 8 and SDG 17.

Dialogue on SDG Blueprint for Sustainable Agriculture | 9th November 2023

October 9, 2023
to October 9, 2023

TERI with support of the Royal Norwegian Embassy has undertaken a study to understand synergies and trade-offs between sustainable agriculture and SDGs for informing policies at the national level. The study considers crop-based agriculture systems and related value chains broadly comprising of pre-production, production, and post-production stages.

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News

Recognizing Food & Land-Use Systems as Contributors to Climate Change

November 10, 2023
| Dr Vibha Dhawan
| Inter Press Service News

The world is ready to make a transition towards sustainable food and land use practices, and national leaders should seize this opportunity to intensify their fight against climate change. COP28 offers an important platform to accelerate the transformation of our food and land-use systems towards a better, progressive future says Dr Vibha Dhawan, Director General, TERI.

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Punjab's crop diversification dilemma

July 14, 2023
| Mr Kartikey Sharma
,
| Dr Manish Anand
| The Hindu Business Line

Ecological farming. Cultivating bajra, maize and soyabean must be made economically attractive for Punjab farmers, says Mr Kartikey Sharma, Research Associate and Dr Manish Anand, Senior Fellow, Resource Efficiency and Governance Division, TERI.

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TERI joins hands with Bennet and Bernard Group to promote Aquaculture

May 11, 2023 |
June 14, 2023
The Times of India

Harnessing the local human and natural resources for the greater good of the society is the need of the hour. This pact with Bennet and Bernard group is the perfect example of an alliance between the knowledge and application of technology with the organic habitat. We are hopeful that this collaboration will help in not only social but also economic development of the area, says Dr Fraddry D'souza, Area Convenor, Coastal Ecology and Marine Resources Centre, The Energy Resources Institute.

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Enhancement of Conscious Consumerism

March 31, 2023
| Ms Mehak Kaur, Research student, TERI
| Dr Mayurika Goel
| TerraGreen Vol.12:49-50, March 2023 issue

The Natural Products Group at the Sustainable Agriculture Programme of TERI is working on red pigment production by naturally occurring coloured microbes for application in the textile industry. Creation of colours through fermentation of non-pathogenic fungi on agricultural waste-based media can be used to produce pigments with bioactivities such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer and others in a sustainable way.

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कुमाऊं वाणी कम्युनिटी रेडियो के माध्यम किसान कर रहे खेती, कृषि से जुड़ी समस्याएं हो रही कम

March 25, 2023 |
March 25, 2023
Krishi Jagran

Agriculture-related information is being given to the rural people through the Kumaon Vani Community Radio Station in Nainital, Uttarakhand, which benefits about 4 lakh people in the region. Mr Mohan Karki, Manager of Kumaon Vani radio Station says that being associated with the farmers, he goes to the villages and listens to their problems and goes to the scientists and agricultural experts of the concerned area to solve those problems and solves the problems of the farmers.

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Govt to set up nursery in Goa to supply chonak seeds

January 30, 2023 |
January 30, 2023
The Times of India

The Goa government is set to establish a sea bass nursery for reliable seed supply to increase production of Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer), commonly called 'chonak' in the state at the cost of over Rs 1 crore. TERI said that chonak is commercially cultivated in both brackish water and freshwater ponds, as well as in cages in coastal waters. In consultation with Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), directorate of agriculture (South Goa), TERI has selected Durga Farm, Chinchinim.

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Policy

Food and Land Resources: Incorporating Watershed-Based Approaches for Better Sustainability-Productivity Balance

August 4, 2021

The overall purpose of watershed programmes is to enhance incomes, provide food security through sustainable agriculture and prudent management of natural resources. This directly corresponds to SDG 1 and 2, i.e. No poverty and Zero Hunger respectively.

Guidelines for Evaluation of Nano-based Agri-input and Food Products in India

August 6, 2020

Nanobiotechnology applications in food production and agriculture have a lot of potential. However, India did not have adequate guidelines to regulate the same. Until now.

Women in agriculture: Enhancing their role and promoting sustainability and livelihood support

May 26, 2020

The paper looks at enhancing the role of women in agriculture and allied activities and providing institutional support

Discussion Paper : Organic Agriculture: An option for fostering sustainable and inclusive agriculture development in India

June 2, 2015

Land scarcity, degraded ecosystems and climate change are pressures that the agriculture sector confronts in the 21st century whilst needing to meet demands for food, feed and fibre, preserve natural resources as well as ensure profitability, economic and social equity (FAO, 2015). Industrialized agriculture,1 which is capital intensive, substituting animal and human labour with machines and purchased inputs (IAASTD, 2009) has been the favoured model for agriculture development due to its tremendous success in increasing food production.

Strengthening Agricultural Biotechnology Regulation in India

September 22, 2010

The recent decision by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to place an indefinite moratorium on the release of Bt Brinjal for commercial agriculture has brought sharp focus on the stridently polarized views across the scientific community and civil society on the benefits and costs of genetically modified crops.

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Services

Technology for reclaming wastelands

We provide expertise in greening and reclamation of wasteland to turn it into green, productive land. We do this using a beneficial group of micro-organisms known as mycorrhizal fungi. Successful examples of sites reclaimed using this technology include fly ash overburdens, alkali chlor-laden sites, distillery effluent discharge sites, phosphogypsum ponds, coal mines, red mud, saline and arid sites.

Next generation technology to produce high-quality mycorrhiza

Mycorrhiza is a biofertiliser that helps promote plant growth in an environment-friendly manner and provides several benefits during the plant cultivation stages. Our in-vitro mass production technology uses a sterile, contamination-free environment, to commerciallly produce this high-quality mycorrhiza, which is viable, healthy, and genetically pure. Our next generation technology for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi is suitable for industries and requires less space for maximum recovery of propagules (up to 1000 billion propagules/annum).

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Dr Arvind Kapur

Distinguished Fellow, Sustainable Agriculture

Dr Mandira Kochar

Fellow and Area Convener, Nano Biotechnology Centre

Dr Neeraj Dwivedi

Area Convener, Agricultural Biotechnology