Abstract: Application of biotechnology in agriculture and husbandry might be the next step to food security in India. Proper infrastructure, technology and market systems are crucial to materialise.

The author is Trustee and Principal Adviser, BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune.
nghegde@baif.org.in


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Reinforcement or upgrading of existing structures to become more resistant and resilient to the damaging effects of hazards.

The Richter scale is a 0-10 logarithmic scale, which defines magnitude of an earthquake.

The frequency, intensity, and distribution of earthquakes in a given area.

Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. When a waterspout makes landfall it becomes a regular tornado, which can then cause damage inland.

A scale of wind speed based on a visual estimation of the wind's effects, ranging from force 0 (less than 1 knot or 1 km/h, ‘calm’) to force 12 (64 knots or 118 km/h and above, ‘hurricane’).

A scale of wind speed based on a visual estimation of the wind's effects, ranging from force 0 (less than 1 knot or 1 km/h, ‘calm’) to force 12 (64 knots or 118 km/h and above, ‘hurricane’).

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a naturally occurring phenomenon that involves fluctuating ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific. The warmer waters essentially slosh, or oscillate, back and forth across the Pacific, much like water in a bath tub.

Epicenter

A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, population imbalance, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality.

Hot or cold mixture of earthen material flowing on the slope of a volcano either during or between volcanic eruptions. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley.

An aerosol can be defined as a system of solid or liquid particles suspended in air. Aerosols can vary in size and composition. When these particles are sufficiently large, we notice their presence as they scatter and absorb sunlight.

An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock, rock fractures or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt) from which groundwater can be extracted using a well.

A biota is the total collection of organisms of a geographic region or a time period, from local geographic scales and instantaneous temporal scales all the way up to whole-planet and whole-timescale.

Water that is saturated or partially saturated with salt and minerals. It was basically used to preserve vegetables, fish, and meat in earlier times. It is also the effluent of desalination plants along the coast, which can pose to be a hazard for oceanic life-forms.