Off to another bad start

Author(s): Richard Mahapatra @Richard20711534 , Kumar Sambhav S... @KumarSambhav_S , Jitendra @jitendrachoube1 , Jyotsna Singh @singh_jyotsna 

"Let's pray to God that the revised forecast doesn't come true," said Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, as the India Meteorological Department on June 2 further downgraded monsoon rain forecast in the wake of strengthening El Nio conditions over the Pacific Ocean. A failed monsoon this year could mean sixth consecutive crop failure in most parts of the country. Weak summer monsoons and untimely winter rains and hailstorms in the past three years have already pulled down the overall agricultural growth rate to near zero per cent. The pattern is uncomfortably similar to the most severe droughts in recent Indian history (see `Rude reminders'). Fears of foodgrain shortage and food price inflation loom over the country. But the worst affected will be the farmers. Decades of decline in agricultural productivity has left them cash-strapped, distressed and without resilience to cope with anymore adversities. The agricultural economy is primarily made of loans now. At this point, a collapse of the agricultural sector seems imminent. This will hit 60 per cent of the country's population that relies on farming and affect the national economy that's struggling to revive.

As the government goes into overdrive, drawing up contingency plans, it must remember the situation demands no short-term solutions. It must also remember that dry monsoons and unseasonal rains will only become more frequent with changing climate. But seasonal devastations should not cause long-term destitution. So, the government must analyse where it is going wrong in its strategies and immediately prepare a long-term plan to resolve the agrarian crisis. Farmers have endured policy myopia for long. An assessment by Richard Mahapatra with reportage by Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava, Jitendra and Jyotsna Singh from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra

A woman in Kacchipurva village in Banda district in Bundelkhand sieves wheat grain from dust. The region is among the worst affected (Photo: Vikas Choudhary)

"I was unable to fathom his agony when he consumed pesticide last year; this year I might follow in his footsteps,"says Rahul Athole of Talavada village in Maharashtra’s Beed district as he recounts the events that forced his elder brother, Sahibrao, to take his life.

At 33, Sahibrao was full of beans. Within two years of managing his one-hectare (ha) family land, he proved wrong all those who said agriculture was not remunerative: he converted his mud house into a brick-and-plaster one and paid back the housing loan of Rs 1.5 lakh. In 2012, he borrowed Rs 2.1 lakh to grow cash crops. He planted sweet lime and watermelon on a small patch and cotton on the rest. Unfortunately, that year the rains failed. All the eight districts, including Beed, that make up the Marathwada region, faced one of the worst droughts in recent history. Sahibrao tried to recover the losses the next year, but 2013 did not prove to be a good year either. Freak hailstorm and unseasonal rains in March 2014 were the final straw. It flattened ready-to-harvest rabi crops, including wheat, pulses and cotton, across Marathwada. Sahibrao could not bear the shock. Newspaper headlines and the government coldly made him part of the growing list of farmers committing suicide in Marathwada, a region that is fast outpacing Vidarbha in cases of farmer's suicide.

Rahul manages the farm thereafter. Before he could start sowing, he had to borrow money to pay back his brother’s mounting debt and buy agricultural inputs. He could not have been more unlucky. The monsoon failed last year and the drought conditions continued for 16 months, well into the winter. This stunted the rabi crops, which require a couple of good showers between October and January for ensuring soil moisture. And then, as if an episode of déjà vu, freak unseasonal rains and hailstorms lashed the region again in March this year, damaging whatever little grew on the fields and killing hundreds of cattle. According to initial surveys of the government, most villages in Marathwada, which contributes significantly to crop production in the state, have lost 50 per cent of the crops. The region suffered crop loss in 0.4 million ha in the first fortnight of March.

Rahul now faces the same uncertain future his brother did. “News reports say the monsoon will fail again this year. If that happens it would be the end of the world for my nine-member family,” he says.

From bad to worse

Such sense of imminent calamity envelops farmers in most parts of the country who are heading for a weak monsoon. On June 2, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) downgraded its monsoon rainfall forecast for this year and said the country is likely to get only 88 per cent of the normal rainfall this season, down from the 93 per cent forecast it had made a month earlier. Rainfall of less than 90 per cent is likely to result in a drought year. IMD downgraded its forecast due to the strengthening of El Niño system in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. “El Niño conditions are likely to strengthen further and reach moderate strength during the monsoon season. There is about 90 per cent probability of El Niño conditions to continue during the southwest monsoon season,” IMD statement said. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology, which monitors weather patterns across the tropical Pacific, has upgraded its monitoring of El Niño for the first time in five years, and warned that it is “likely to persist in the coming months”. This increases the risk of a poor monsoon two to three times.

A deficient monsoon does not bode well for farmers who are yet to pick up the pieces of their lives after five consecutive crop failures—either due to too little or too much rain (see ‘When freak becomes norm’).

Source: Based on state estimates

In the hot and semi-arid Marathwada, 87 per cent of farmers, mostly small and marginal, depend on rain for agriculture. Since 2009, the region has received scanty rain and faced two severe droughts. To make matters worse, farmers are facing unseasonal rains and hailstorms for the past two years. After losing both kharif and rabi crops in consecutive years, farmers have been switching to cash crops like Bt cotton to recover losses. But these are capital-intensive.

“Frequent droughts combined with excessive use of chemical fertilisers have reduced the carbon content of soil from 1 to 0.3 per cent in the past decade, affecting productivity,” says S B Varade, soil scientist, formerly with Marathwada Agricultural University, Parbhani. Bt cotton farmers in Aurangabad told Down To Earth that the yield was high initially, but it is fast declining. This year, farmers could harvest only 100 kg of cotton from an acre (0.4 ha), which yielded up to 300 kg till three years ago. Cotton prices, entirely dependent on the international market, have also plummeted to a five-year low. “Five years ago, 100 kg of cotton would fetch Rs 7,000. Now it hardly sells for Rs 3,000. Thus, per unit production cost for cotton is often more or equal to the price a farmers gets for the crop,” says Shashi Kevadkar, a journalist in Beed. This is further pushing the farmers into the debt trap and distress.

A study by Maharashtra-based Dilasa Janvikas Prathishthan shows that 95 per cent of the farmers who committed suicide in the past year were cotton growers. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has admitted that 800 farmers have committed suicide between January last year and the first week of April this year due to crop failure; at least 250 took their lives in the first four months of 2015.

Family of Sahibrao Athole, who committed suicide in June 2014, following consecutive crop failures since 2012

Madhya Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region suffers from a similar predicament. Most farmers in this semi-arid region depend on agriculture for sustenance and grow only one crop a year. For this they need only a few showers of rain. But the region has been reeling from a long spell of drought in the past decade. Declining government support, like agriculture extension and irrigation provisions, have stripped the capacity of Bundelkhand farmers to continue farming. Yet they have not given up hope. Kishori Prajapati, a small farmer from Majhguan Kalan village in Chhatarpur district, is one of them. His entire crop withered last year due to poor rainfall. He still borrowed Rs 1.5 lakh to sow rabi crops, without realising that in the times of unknown weather events he is pinning his future on false hopes.

On March 30, something unusual happened while Prajapati was taking an afternoon nap to escape the dizzying midday heat. The clear sky suddenly turned black and within a few minutes a thick layer of lemon-sized hails covered his entire village and farms. The standing crops of wheat and gram on his two-hectare farm were crushed. He could not bear the shock and fainted. As he regained senses a few minutes later, Prajapati rushed to the hut, picked up a rope and headed towards a tree to hang himself. Though he was rescued, he keeps wondering how to pay back the loan and feed his family for a year. The freak hailstorm and rain damaged crops in 0.9 million ha across 43 of the 48 districts in Madhya Pradesh.

Unseasonal rains have also wreaked havoc in the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, where farmers grow a variety of cash crops, including wheat, pulses and oil seed, in winter. These crops need good sunlight to flourish in January-March. Any rain in this period affects the growth of the grain. This year, it rained during most parts of February and March in the six Bundelkhand districts of Uttar Pradesh. In some areas, crops perished as fields remained water-logged for days, while in others, standing crops were flattened due to strong winds. “More than 70 per cent of wheat crops were blighted, and the entire crops of pulses and oil seeds were destroyed in the region,” says Raja Bhaiya of Banda-based non-profit Vidya Dham Samiti, which works with the farmers in the region. The crop loss has wiped out the whole year’s income of the farmers. Initial estimates of the state government put the crop loss at Rs 6,677.45 crore. More than 230 farmer deaths were reported from the region between March and April this year.

This year, Parmeshwar Kokat of Thakar Adgaon village in Beed, Maharashtra, harvested one-third of the cotton he used to get three years ago. He buys water from a neighbour at Rs 10,000 per month for irrigation. The crop is pushing him into the debt trap

The state government has not officially admitted to such suicides, but both the state and Central governments have been trading charges over who is responsible for the deaths. “Most farmers killed themselves due to the shock of poor produce. This year’s rabi crop looked very good till it rained and farmers had high hopes on these crops to get out of their misery,” adds Raja.

In the first four months of this year, unseasonal rains have lashed 14 states, including Haryana and Punjab, two of India’s top grain producers. These states received up to 10 times more rainfall than what they normally receive during the period. The country as a whole received 80 per cent more rainfall than normal between March and May. As per IMD, the average rain received in March was 61.1 mm, nearly double the normal of 30.9 mm, making it the wettest March in 48 years. Close to 19 million ha of standing crops, accounting for 30 per cent of the total rabi acreage, have been affected. Going by government estimates, it is worth Rs 10,000 crore.

Now, these are the states that will be severely affected by the deficit monsoon. “Battered by consecutive crop losses, most farmers do not have money to take up kharif this season. They will have to borrow again. And the deficit monsoon will further push them into the debt trap,” says Sanjay Singh of Parmarth Samajsevi Sansthan, a non-profit working on agriculture in Uttar Pradesh. Given the already distressed condition, the future seems daunting. Estimates show that India’s foodgrain production would come down by close to six per cent.

Starting from panchayats to Parliament, the crop loss and the reported spate of farmers' suicides has dominated discussions in the last two months. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government faced a united opposition on the issue both inside and outside Parliament.

On April 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi quickly widened the relief net by raising compensation amount by 50 per cent and by reducing the eligibility criteria to include those farmers who have faced at least 33 per cent crop damage. After a few weeks, he inaugurated insurance schemes for the poor, including farmers. Non-NDA ruled states like Uttar Pradesh have turned this into an opportunity of scoring political points. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi scripted his political return from a much talked about vacation using the situation. But, the more the government and political parties talk about farm distress, the more they highlight India’s disturbed track record in reaching out to farmers in times of crisis.

Clearly, the problem lies somewhere else that nobody likes to talk about.

`The crisis has been there for long'   Economist C P Chandrasekhar teaches at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and has authored several books on economic reforms. He speaks to Down To Earth on prevailing agrarian crisis   How do you interpret the recent dip in rural wage and slump in consumption in rural areas? These are symptoms of an agrarian crisis. While some of the trends are recent, the crisis has been there for long. However, it could not be felt for some time because of consecutive good or normal monsoons. Underlying the crisis are growing unavailability of crops, the collapse of public investment and lowering expenditure in rural India, and the turn to unsustainable practices of depending on farm loans. This has occurred in an environment of liberalisation in which global trends and fluctuations have influenced domestic prices and the pattern of domestic production. The consequence has been a combination of increased volatility in production and rising rural indebtedness, which increase vulnerability. As a country, do we have the resilience to tide over consecutive crop losses? Any shock that impacts production by constricting revenues earned by an already indebted and cash-strapped peasantry threatens a collapse into bankruptcy. This spells disaster in an environment where social protection is minimal or entirely absent. Moreover, with state policy increasingly biased in favour of corporate and the government financing that shift by cutting rural development and social expenditures, the protection that the state had earlier offered in times of crisis has virtually disappeared. There is little space for resilience here. Is rising rural debt a systemic problem or just part of a long phase of transition? If rural indebtedness increases at a time when the viability of crop production is under threat, the trajectory is unsustainable and the problem systemic. This is no process of "livelihood transition", though the peasant unrest it may precipitate could make it the trigger for policy transition or even structural transformation.

Remembering Charles Correa, one of the pioneers of sustainable architecture

Author(s): Avikal Somvanshi @ 

Celebrated architect and urban planner Charles Correa died on June 16 in Mumbai. Down To Earth revisits nine of his architectural gems designed to weather Indian climatic conditions without claiming a large piece of the limited urban resources pie

The world is struggling to deal with energy guzzling air conditioning and the environmental havoc it has unleashed on Earth’s climate. Behind this problem are modern architects and their revolutionary glass and concrete designs which make air conditioning a necessity.

But Charles Correa stood out in the crowd. He reminded us that buildings and architects need to work with the elements. Correa spent more than half a century designing buildings that did not have to depend on air conditioning and heating.
He once said “form follows climate” and gave an environmental twist to the popular architectural dictum “form follows function”.

Correa will be remembered as independent India’s first urban visionary for his nuanced understanding of urbanisation and architecture in the Indian context. Many of his buildings can be considered as models of contemporary sustainable design. Here are some of his select projects which sought “new and eloquent ways to express the cultures we live in”:

Tube House, Ahmedabad, 1961-62

Courtesy: charlescorrea.net

A prototype for low-income housing, this building was shaped such that cool air was naturally drawn through it, leaving via a vent close to the roof. The design enabled the modulation of temperatures through convection currents. As the heated air rose, it moved along the sloping surface of the ceiling and slipped out through the vent, thus drawing in new air from the lower level to replace it.
Inside the units, there were almost no doors; privacy was created by the various levels themselves, and security was provided by the pergola-grid over the internal courtyard.

Hindustan Lever Pavilion, Delhi, 1961

Courtesy: charlescorrea.net

In designing the pavilion, Correa furthered the natural cooling principle developed in the Tube House.

Kanchanjunga Apartments, Mumbai, 1970-83

Courtesy: charlescorrea.net

Kanchanjunga is a condominium of 32 luxury apartments of four different types in southern Mumbai. It is celebrated as a pioneering exercise in bio-climatic design. In Mumbai, a building has to be oriented east-west to catch the prevailing sea breeze. But this direction also brings in hot sunshine and heavy monsoon rains.

Old bungalows in Mumbai solved these problems by wrapping a protective layer of verandahs around the main living areas, thus providing the occupants with two lines of defence against the elements. At Kanchanjunga, Correa successfully applied these principles of climatic responsible design to a high rise building.

National Craft Museum, Delhi, 1975-90

Courtesy: charlescorrea.net

The National Crafts Museum was an exercise in architectural and cultural metaphors with a series of courtyards forming the central circulation spine. Correa’s design also demonstrated the relevance of courtyards as an effective means of regulating comfort conditions in an urban setup.

The museum is important as it provided space to artisans from around the country to assemble and share their craft with counterparts from different regions. This transformed the project from a mere exhibit to a cultural exchange and craft promotion arena. This idea was later fully realised by others in a project like Delhi Haat. 

Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad, 1958-63

Photo: Avikal Somvanshi

The ashram was designed using local materials. It has tiled roofs, brick walls, stone floors and wooden doors. But there are no glass windows anywhere in the building. Light and ventilation is provided by operable wooden louvres. Correa limited the use of concrete to structural beams which doubled up as rainfall conduits. The open air exhibition space capitalised on local climatic conditions and modulated comfort requirements with courtyards and water bodies strategically placed in the building layout.

Kovalam Beach Resort, Kerala, 1969-74

Courtesy: charlescorrea.net

Cross-ventilation is essential in the hot and humid climate of southern India. Traditionally, buildings in Kerala were built in pyramidal form with the plinth rising parallel to the slope of the tiled roof above. This minimised the need for enclosing walls to keep out the sun and rain. From within the pavilion, one's line of vision is deflected sharply downwards to the grass, which is refreshing and blissfully therapeutic on a hot day.

Correa incorporated this local wisdom of natural ventilation in the Kovalam Beach Resort. Additionally, in order to preserve the natural beauty of the site, the facilities are all built into the hill slopes. The construction is entirely in the traditional style of Kerala—white plastered walls with red tiled roofs. Other pavilions consist of light bamboo chhatris with coir matting on the floor and local Kerala handicrafts.

Belapur Housing, Navi Mumbai, 1983-86

Courtesy: charlescorrea.net

According to Correa’s official website, this project demonstrated how high densities (500 persons per hectare, including open spaces, schools and other facilities) can be easily achieved within the context of a low-rise typology. The site plan is generated by a hierarchy of community spaces, starting with a small shared courtyard 8 m x 8 m around which seven houses are grouped.

Each of these houses is on its own piece of land, so that the families can have the advantage of open-to-sky spaces.

The form and plans of these houses are simple and, hence, the houses can be built and extended by traditional masons and craftspersons. This would generate employment in the bazaar sector of the urban economy where they are needed for the new urban migrants.

Bazaar Streets

Courtesy: charlescorrea.net

Correa planned the New Bombay (Navi Mumbai) as a “Bazaar” city with all elements that are now considered as constituents of new sustainable urbanisation. The project sought to address the crucial issues of affordability and equity, with emphasis on mass transport, coherent urban form and housing patterns which use space as a resource.

Similarly, Correa tried addressing equity in road space in 1968 by recommending to the Bombay Municipal Corporation an experimental modification in one of the city's principal streets (Dadabhai Naoroji Road) in order to deal with both hawkers during the day and the homeless at night. He proposed a line of platforms with water taps placed at intervals of 30 m. During the day, these platforms would be used by hawkers, thus clearing the pavements and arcades for pedestrians. The platform was also to act as a safety barrier between pedestrians and vehicular traffic.

Both projects were never realised according to Correa’s vision.

US food regulation agency declares hydrogenated oils not safe for human health

Author(s): Ananya Tewari @ 

Several American companies are working towards the removal of such contents from their food products, hoping that the elimination will be done before the end of the three-year compliance period

Fried foods such as French fries are high in trans fats which is bad for health (Credit: Steven Depolo/Flickr)

The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has recently declared that partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), the primary source of artificial trans fats in processed foods, are not “generally recognised as safe” (GRAS) for human health.

The FDA had taken a tentative decision about PHOs to be no longer considered as GRAS way back in 2013. It has now been finalised after taking into account public comments and a thorough review of scientific evidence.

The US food agency has also set a three-year compliance period for food manufacturers during which they have to remove PHOs from their products. This will allow the companies sufficient time to either reformulate their products or petition the FDA, seeking permission for specific use of PHOs.

After the compliance period comes to an end, PHOs will no longer be added to food, unless otherwise approved by the FDA. Several US companies are already working towards removal of PHOs from their food products. It is hoped that the elimination will be done before the compliance period ends.

Mandatory guidelines for TFA

It has been mandatory in the US since 2006 for food manufacturers to include trans fatty acids (TFA) content in the nutrition fact label. Even after a decline in TFA consumption from 2003 to 2012, the authority recognised the need to further limit its consumption to ensure that public health is not jeopardised.

Trans fat or Trans fatty acids (TFAs) are created artificially during the process of making PHOs, which are popularly used in bakery and processed foods such as doughnuts and French fries. These are also naturally present in dairy products.

Consumption of TFAs increases the level of low density lipoprotein (LDL), also known as bad cholesterol in our body, and decreases the high density lipoprotein (HDL), the good cholesterol. Increase of bad cholesterol level in our body is associated with cardiovascular diseases.

CSE studies

In a 2012 study conducted by the Delhi-based non-profit Centre for Science and Environment, trans fats content was found to be high in French fries, instant noodles and potato chips.
The study also found the misleading claims made by several manufacturers for products such as Lay’s American Style chips, Haldiram Aloo Bhujia, Bingo Pudina Chips and Top Ramen Noodles, which claimed to have “zero trans fat”, but the study results showed otherwise.

CSE also conducted a study in 2009 on 30 brands of cooking oils and found that the presence of trans fats in all vanaspati (partially hydrogenated vegetable oils) brands to be 5-12 times higher than the standard of Denmark—two per cent of the total fat content. The present maximum limit of TFA in India has been set at 10 per cent by weight. This regulation was notified by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in 2013.

In November 2014, FSSAI issued a draft amendment regulation to further limit TFA content to 5 per cent by weight in interesterified vegetable fats, magarine, fat spreads and hydrogenated vegetable oils as specified in the Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulation, 2011. The change is to be implemented on and from August 27, 2016.

“The government wants to amend the 5 per cent regulation for TFA, (and) discussions have been going on between the authority and the industries, but the proposed regulations have not been finalised as yet,” says S Gurumoorthi, executive director, Vanaspati Manufacturers’ Association of India.

He also added that the “industry needs time to make products adhere to the proposed law as small manufacturers are not in a sound condition in terms of laboratory infrastructure, equipment and expertise”.

While the 5 per cent TFA regulation is on the discussion board in India, it is important to implement this soon, as the world is moving towards near-zero regulation. India needs to reach the minimum limit first and then start to work aggressively to reach the near-zero target.

Science minister harps on Modi’s mantra of revisiting ‘ancient Indian technologies’ to fight climate change

Author(s): Shreeshan Venkatesh @ 

Y S Chowdary assures that monsoon is in a positive trend and there is no need to have any kind of anxiety

ASSOCHAM hosted the event on climate change to facilitate a discussion among the government, industry and civil society (Credit: Shreeshan Venkatesh)

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) on Thursday hosted its fourth national conference on climate change—Mitigation Initiatives & Adaptation Challenges, Convergence & Action Agenda.

The event, aimed at facilitating a discussion among the government, industry and the civil society, was inaugurated by Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Y S Chowdary.

In his address, Chowdary said that the Narendra Modi government had been stressing on the development of green technologies since coming to power last year. The minister lamented the lack of a coordinated plan to mitigate and offset the damages caused by natural disasters and announced that the ministry was working on building fixed plans for disaster management, especially by utilising social media tools.

Chowdary added that there was a requirement for the Indianisation of mitigation strategies and put forth Prime Minister Modi’s belief on revisiting “ancient Indian technologies”. He said it was “desirable” to keep the most vulnerable communities in mind, while designing such a strategy.

‘No need to worry about monsoon’

When asked about rainfall estimates, Chowdary said that it was difficult to predict rainfall-associated adversities due to the lack of accuracy in the available data.

Speaking to reporters after the conference, he said “Monsoon is in a positive trend, there is no need to have any anxiety, (this) much I can say. I cannot give numbers because the barometer is not there to measure anything perfectly about nature; it is on the positive side and we do not need to worry at all.”

The inaugural addresses were followed by two plenary discussion sessions on mitigation and adaptation strategies and technologies that featured participants from the government, industries, NGOs and the scientific community.

Assam floods affect 300,000 people, pose danger to wildlife

Author(s): Suchetana Sinha @ 

About 10,000 hectares of crop yield has also been destroyed

A pair of one-horned rhino at Kaziranga National Park (File photo/CSE)

Floods that hit Assam in the first week of June have affected at least 27,000 people in more than 70 villages across the state till now. According to the State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), a total of about 300,000 people are facing the wrath of these floods, in 13 districts of the state.

Since May 21, the state authority has been monitoring the situation and releasing a flood report every day. According to the latest report on June 22, River Brahmaputra is flowing above danger level at Nimatighat, a port near Jorhat town in the state.

Relief camps have been opened in Tinsukia, Goalpara, Sonitpur, Kokrajhar, Nongaigaon, Nalbari and Dibrugarh districts. According to the government, till the morning of June 15, only 11 relief camps were operational and about 1,825 inmates were living in them.

Animals in danger

Humans are not the only ones who are braving the floods in the northeastern state. Over 2,000 big and small animals have been affected in Lakhimpur, one of the most affected districts. Also, over 9,000 hectares (ha) of crop yield has been destroyed in the state. Of this, 1,532 ha of crop area was destroyed on June 22 alone.

Every year, Brahmaputra floods the national park, thus forcing animals to encroach into human settlements. This leads to man-animal conflict, making animals vulnerable to poaching and road accidents. Organisations like Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), which is a unit of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), are involved in educating people about the aftermath of floods in wildlife-rich areas like Kaziranga National Park.

Talking to Down To Earth, an official from Kaziranga Wildlife Society, an Assam-based NGO for wildlife protection, says although CWRC is doing a great job, this is a temporary solution and needs more attention. Mubina Akhtar, an animal activist, believes that though villagers are enthusiastic to learn about these issues, young boys in the villages expect something in “return” for their contribution. The intention of volunteering is missing. “We, as an NGO, cannot offer them much but we keep on appealing to the government to provide a better response team,” she adds.

Kaziranga National Park is famous for its one-horned rhinos that are more vulnerable to poaching during floods. “Unfortunately, about eight to nine rhinos have been poached earlier this year. Their numbers are declining. The last poaching incident was recorded around April 10,” says Akhtar.

According to media reports, a team of International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and WTI has formulated a work plan to mitigate the human–animal conflict during the floods and to ensure wildlife safety. Conservationists, panchayats, village headmen, local NGOs, civil and forest authorities have attended these meetings and sensitise villagers on how to save wildlife. She is also concerned that once the awareness campaigns are over, the national park would be neglected and poaching incidents would surface again.

Bibhab Talukdar from Aaranyak, a science and research institute that works towards wildlife conservation, tells Down To Earth that flood is a natural phenomenon happening here every year and this year is not as bad as the earlier ones. Also, animals are more vulnerable to poaching but constant police patrolling has kept the situation under control. The official adds that the NGO has worked with school children in Assam to promote wildlife conservation and continues to do so.

Maggi-gate: why India must face up to a bigger problem than instant noodles

Lead in drinking water, paint and spices have exposed children to its harmful effects

Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Merlin Thomas, Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute

Instant noodles are a staple for many households, especially in India and Asia. In India, Swiss brand Maggi – part of the Nestlé family – has held a near monopoly of the market since being introduced in 1983.

On June 5, however, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued an order to “withdraw and recall (Maggi Instant noodles) from the market having been found unsafe and hazardous for human consumption”. This followed earlier reports by regulators that some packets contained excess lead. Since then, other countries, distributors and supermarket chains have followed suit, making the product recall one of the largest ever.

The emerging story has all the elements of a movie blockbuster. There are the whistleblowers, the militant activists, the lax officials, the tainted Bollywood starlets (now in court for misrepresenting the safety of the brand) and the global mega-corporation brought to its knees by a popular uprising.

But what is most remarkable is how quickly a much-loved and universal brand can be made into an archetypal corporate monster.

Lead weight

In India, the maximum permissible limit for lead in a product is 2.5 parts per million. FSSAI reports that the majority of packet noodles tested had lead content above this threshold to levels high as 17 ppm being recorded. Nestle disputes these findings aruging that their tests had all been withinfood safety limits and further testing for lead is being undertaken in India as well as other countries including the UK, Australia and the US.

The problem is that there is no safe limit for lead exposure in children, who are often regular consumers of instant noodles, as a quick meal at school or when they get home. Even at low levels, lead has significant effects onbrain development, affecting intelligence, academic achievement and behaviour.

For each 10 µg/dl increment in blood lead level above zero, average IQ drops 1-3 points. While this change may seem small, any shift in the distribution of intelligence means fewer people with high IQ and more with reduced intelligence levels.

It has been reported that more than one third of children in India now have blood lead levels greater than 10 µg/dL, a level unequivocally associated with harmful effects on the developing brain as well as other bodily functions. In some areas of India more than two thirds of children areaffected

Excessive lead exposure usually occurs as result of leaching from lead paint, plastics such as PVC piping, soldering, batteries, coal burning or other industrial sources into the environment. Lead in cooking utensils and glazed pottery is also commonplace.

Lead also enters the drinking water. At least a third of India’s major cities have reported elevated lead levels in tap water above the ten parts per billion – the maximum recommended by the World Health Organisation. If tap water is used in any part of manufacture, such as washing or cleaning, then the lead it contains will inevitably be concentrated as products are dried.

Many of the dried spices used in Indian cooking, cosmetics and festivitieshave been found to contain significant amounts of lead. In addition, the bones, skin and cartilage of animals also accumulate environmental lead. When these parts are used to make stock they release more lead than when made from meat.

Taken together, it may seem surprising if Indian-manufactured instant noodles did not contain some lead. Except for the fact that as one of the world’s largest food companies, Nestlé has a clear responsibility to make sure they don’t. In a country awash with lead, testing should have been obvious and necessary even if it was not formally mandated for one of the largest and best trusted food manufacturers in the world. Indeed, they claim to have undertaken repeated and rigorous testing of all their manufacturing processes and to have undertaken the massive product withdrawal on the basis of consumer sentiment.

In a country still haunted by the Dow Chemical Bhopal disaster, it is not surprising that India should, at the very least, expect a higher standard as the price of acceptance of global tenants, and feel cheated when it appears that rent goes unpaid. Over the past decade in India there have been a battles fought against Coca-Cola and Pepsi (for unacceptable amounts of pesticide residue) and Cadbury (for unacceptable worms in chocolate).

Whether lead has or hasn’t entered their production chain, the consequences of Maggi-gate have been far reaching. And it’s not finished yet. Nestlé will contest the order against them on June 30. The police willinvestigate the “Bollywood abassadors” for Maggi. A contract worker who lost his job after production of noodles was halted has been reported to have committed suicide. And worst of all, India has woken up to find it has a real problem of lead exposure among its children, for which banning noodles is not going to be an instant solution.

Merlin Thomas is Adjunct Professor of Preventive Medicine at Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read theoriginal article.

Book says climate change will affect global food security and trade

Author(s): Deepanwita Niyogi @ 

In several regions of the world, water scarcity will reduce the capacity to grow crops

Warmer, drier conditions nearer the equator may reduce crop production while moderate warming may, at least for a short-term, benefit yields further away, the book says (Credit: Vikas Choudhary)

Global warming will have a profound impact on food production worldwide, leading to a reduction in the nutritional properties of some major crops, according to a new book.

The book, Climate Change and Food Systems, contains the findings of researchers, who have studied the impact of climate change on agriculture at both regional as well as global levels.

Threat to nutrition, health and water

The book underlines the potential impact climate change can have on health and nutrition. A higher concentration of carbon dioxide—the primary greenhouse gas emitted through human activities—lowers the amount of zinc, iron and protein and raises the starch and sugar content in wheat and rice.

The nutrition and health implications of this can be great, the book says. In India, where up to a third of the rural population is at risk of not meeting protein requirements, the higher protein deficit from non-legume food crops can have serious health consequences.

“As temperatures rise and water becomes scarce, wheat yields in developing countries are expected to fall by 13 per cent and rice by 15 per cent by 2050. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) estimates that production of potato, banana and other cash crops will slump. Several studies points to a bleak scenario in the years ahead. However, other studies show that yields should be able to increase with more carbon dioxide available in the atmosphere (as it) would help to make more carbohydrates,” Devinder Sharma, food and agriculture policy analyst at FAO India, said.

Though this may be true, the combined effect of falling water tables and acute weather aberrations will surely lead to a decline in production, he added.

“In a country which is largely vegetarian, much of the protein intake is through pulses (and) non-legume crops. Any reduction in the nutritional levels in these crops is sure to hit the nutritional intake of the Indian population. Given the fact that India already has the largest population affected by malnutrition and under-nutrition, climate change will pose a much serious problem in the years to come,” Sharma said.

The book also shows how in several regions across the world, water scarcity due to climate change will reduce the capacity to produce food.

It cites recent research that has assessed the global impact of diet change on both irrigated and rain-fed water consumption patterns. Some results suggest that reducing animal products in diet offers the potential to save water resources to a large extent.

Pressure on agriculture

According to the authors, the global demand for agricultural commodities is increasing with the rise in population and income levels.

Agriculture depends on local weather conditions and is expected to be sensitive to climate change in the future, the book says.

Warmer, drier conditions near the equator are likely to reduce crop production while moderate warming may, at least for a short-term, benefit yields further away.

“Climate change is likely to exacerbate growing global inequality as the brunt of the negative climate effects is expected to fall on those countries that are least developed and most vulnerable,” said editor Aziz Elbehri of FAO’s Trade and Markets Division.

However, Sharma begs to differ here. “Although it is being projected that developing countries would be the worst hit, I think the worst impact would be on rich and developed countries. Several studies have shown that developed countries, especially in North America and parts of Europe, will become inhospitable. With the kind of epic drought being faced by California and Texas for the past three years, it is clearly being seen as a pointer to the disaster that awaits ahead,” he told Down To Earth.

Trade flows

The book cites studies that indicate that trade would probably expand under climate change—with flows increasing from mid to high latitudes towards low-latitude regions, where production and export potential would be reduced.

At the same time, more frequent extreme weather events, such as droughts and cyclones, can adversely impact trade by disrupting transportation, supply and logistics.

According to Sharma not enough is being done to lessen the harmful impact of climate change. “The G-20 Heads of State meeting in Brisbane in December 2014 ended with the usual rhetoric of boosting food and nutritional requirement and called for increased investments. The G-20 Food Security and Nutritional Framework does not look beyond helping small holders to mitigate the impact of climate change. What is required is to bring about systemic changes that move away from farming systems that led modern agriculture to become a villain of the story. According to CGIAR, agriculture is responsible for 41 per cent green house gas emissions,” he added.

The entire effort, so far, seems to be industry-driven with hardly any space for reinventing sustainable agro-ecological methods of farming. The G-20 needs to adopt the recommendations of the International Assessment of Agriculture Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development which calls for a radical change in the ‘business as usual’ approach, Sharma told Down To Earth.

CURRENT AFFAIRS JUNE/24 & 25/2015

           CURRENT AFFAIRS JUNE/24 & 25/2015

1.  IPO NORMS FOR TECHNOLOGICAL STARTUPS RELAXED:

i.   SEBI relaxed the IPO Norms for Technological start-ups to raise funds from capital market.

ii.  It reduced the post listing lock in period for tech start up promoters to six months, instead of three years for other IPOs

iii.  SEBI – Securities and Exchange Board of India

iv.  IPO – Initial Public Offering

2.  LUCKNOW ZOO RENAMED AFTER LAST NAWAB WAJID ALI SHAH:

i.   Uttar Pradesh Government renamed the Lucknow Proni Udyan, popularly known as Lucknow Zoo, as Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, Prani Udyan , Lucknow.

ii.  Lucknow Zoo was established in 1921 and named after England’s Prince Wales.           

3.  ASIAN ATHLETICS GRAND PRIX:

i.  Inderjeet Singh and Jinson Johnson won Gold Medals at Asian Athletics Grand Prix

ii.  India won a total of 8 medals out of which 2 gold, 1 silver and 5 bronze.

iii. Inderjit Singh won Gold in Shotput (men) and Jinson Johsonwon Gold in 800 mt event.

iv.  The venue for Asian Athletics Grand Prix, 2015 is Bangkok ,Thailand.

4.  STEFFI GRAF IS APPOINTED AS KERALA’S AYURVEDA BRAND AMBASSADOR:

i.  Steffi Graf is appointed as Kerala’s Ayurveda Brand Ambassador.

ii.  Steffi Graf is a German Tennis Player who had bagged 22 Grand Slam titles.

iii.  Chief Minister of Kerala- Oommen Chandy.

5. GLOBAL PEACE INDEX 2015:

i.  IEP has released Global Peace Index 2015.

ii. The GPI 2015 measured peace, its causes and its economic value during 2014.

iii.  India is placed at 143^rd position, the same as 2014.

iv. Iceland is the most peaceful country.

CURRENT AFFAIRS JUNE/22 & 23/2015

       

              CURRENT AFFAIRS JUNE/22 & 23/2015

1.  INDIA AT 61^ST POSITION IN TERMS OF FOREIGNER’S MONEY IN SWISS BANKS:

i.   India is placed at 61^st position in terms of foreigners money in Swiss Banks.

ii.  India’s money in Swiss Banks declined by over 10% to about 1.8 billion Swiss Francs in 2014.

iii.  United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) holds the largest shares of the foreign clients money with Swiss Banks.

2.  SANGITHA SALANIDHI AWARD 2015:

i.   Sanjay Subrahmanyam is selected for sangitha Kalanidhi Award for the year 2015.

ii.  Sanjay Subrahmanyam is a renowned Carnatic vocalist.

iii.  Sangitha Kalonidhi Award belong to Madras Music Academy.

3.  FIRST INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY OBSERVED GLOBALLY:

i.  First Ever International Yoga Day was observed on 21^st June 2015 around the globe.

ii.  Earlier National Yoga Day was celebrated in India on 3^rd June 2015.

iii.  Around 36000 participants performed asanas and 84 Nationalities joined the official observation at Rajpath in New Delhi.

4.  NONGFU SPRING WORLD CUP OF SNOOKER 2015:

i.  China won Nongfu spring World Cup of Snooker2015.

ii.  China defeated Scotland to win the cup.

5. ANDY MURRAY WON MEN’S SINGLE OF AEGON CHAMPIONSHIP:

i.  Andy Murray of Britain won Men’s single of Aegon Tennis Championship at the Queen’s Club.

ii.  Andy Murray defeated South African Kevin Anderson in the final clash.

6.  FIFA U-20 WORLD CUP 2015:

i.  Serbia won the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2015.

ii.  Serbia defeated Brazil in the final Match.

iii.  U-20 FIFA World Cup, 2015 held at New Zealand.

7.  ROGER FEDERER WON GERRY WEBER TITLE:

i.  Swiss Tennis player Roger Federer won Gerry Weber open tennis title for 8^th time.

ii.  Roger Federer defeated Italy’s Andreas Seppi in the final clash.