India's Rice Revolution: Record Harvests with No GM or Herbicides!

     In a village in India's poorest state, Bihar, farmers are growing world record amounts of rice – with no GM seeds and no herbicide.  Poverty and access to food are major factors in world hunger, so the Bihar farmers may have developed an amazing solution!
     According to GMWatch and "The Guardian," Sumant Kumar, for example, a shy young farmer in Nalanda district of India's poorest state Bihar, had – using only farmyard manure and without any herbicides – grown an astonishing 22.4 tonnes of rice on one hectare of land. This was a world record and with rice the staple food of more than half the world's population of seven billion, big news.
      "Farmers use less seeds, less water and less chemicals but they get more without having to invest more. This is revolutionary," said Dr Surendra Chaurassa from Bihar's agriculture ministry. "I did not believe it to start with, but now I think it can potentially change the way everyone farms. I would want every state to promote it. If we get 30-40% increase in yields, that is more than enough to recommend it."
     Great news!  Read the article here.