On 4 December 2002, India's finance minister, Jaswant Singh, presented his government's mid-term review in parliament, emphasising a need to boost private investment in agriculture to
For predominantly agrarian societies, importing food is equivalent to importing unemployment. The Subcontinent needs to aspire to self-sufficiency through protecting its genetic inheritance and distributing the 'excess' foodgrain that curiously fails to reach those in need. It also needs to be wary
Much talk of economic independence has been spawned by the trade and transit crisis with India. There are exhortations of using of native wicker-work wastebaskets and dreams of running cars
Generally, in the Himalaya, the poor population eats vegetarian food, consuming meat only on special occasions. The situation, however, is quite different for the burgeoning middle and upper-middle classes. Although,
Eating conventions are in a state of flux as Himalayan communities open up to outside influence. While the most dramatic transformations are in the urban middle-class diet, changes in rural eating habits and nutrition are potentially more hazardous.
The potato is taking root in Nepal like never before, and Kulbir Vyanjankar will be the first to tell you why. This 45-year-old farmer from Sankhamul in Kathmandu Valley is
