China said on Wednesday it would boost agriculture innovation in an effort to increase food output, signaling that the world's most populous country is trying to tackle outdated farm and food infrastructure to feed its people.

China accounts for a fifth of the world's population with less than 9 percent of its arable land, and the cabinet suggested in a document that China's leaders were aiming to get serious about technology to ensure long-term food supplies.

Besides emphasising on efficiency of water use and ecological needs of rivers, for the first time policy makers have proposed that precious natural resources be considered an “economic good” over and above pre-emptive need. So, while the draft National Water Policy, 2012, talks of water conservation, it also proposes promoting maximisation of value of water, setting up of a regulatory authority to take care of inter-state disputes and adequate water pricing to incentivise recycle and reuse.

Dharamsala: The simple technology developed by CSK Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University, Palampur, has found few takers among farmers of the state. A model for conserving rain water, developed by the Palampur agriculture university, can offer a solution to at least the drinking water problems of the district.

SHILLONG: Pointing out that the State is blessed with the highest amount of rainfall, Principal Secretary of Soil and Water Conservation PBO Warjri rued the fact that the State has not been able to retain this blessing.

“The total amount of water which precipitates from Meghalaya either goes to Bangladesh or the Brahmaputra. We are able to retain very less water,” Warjri said after the release of the annual report of the State Soil and Water Conservation department on Tuesday.

The melting down of the Himalayan glaciers due to climate change may be solving the current water crisis, but can also have a devastating effect on animal and human lives in the long run, environmentalist and polar explorer Robert Swan has said. “What scares me is that people think that it is fine for the glaciers to melt. What they need to realise is that getting so much of water through melting glaciers can have hazardous effects in the future,” Swan said.

ISLAMABAD: Capital Development Authority (CDA) would initiate a series of seminars on judicious use of water from January 19, raising awareness among schoolchildren for preserving this precious resource.

The first seminar of the awareness campaign will be arranged at Global System of Integrated Studies (GSIS), which will be attended by the students of 10 private educational institutions. Talking to APP on Monday, Director General Water Management Sanaullah Aman said the Authority was arranging seminars in schools and colleges to sensitise children about judicious use of water.