-Down to Earth Lowest amount of rainfall in the last decade; climate change to blame, says Met Paddy cultivation in Jharkhand this Kharif season has taken a huge hit, with most farmers expecting a meagre yield. Monsoon 2022 saw a massive deficit in rainfall — the lowest in the last 10 years.  “I doubt I can harvest even a kilogramme of yield this year,” Mahendra Prasad told Down to Earth. The farmer in...

-Down to Earth Hurdles in availing financial support under Nikshay Poshan Yojana will exacerbate India’s tuberculosis crisis Only two-thirds of people living with tuberculosis benefitted from the Union government’s sole nutrition support scheme last year, highlighting bottlenecks in the fight against a major public health concern. The Nikshay Poshan Yojana entitles every tuberculosis (TB) patient, seeking treatment in either the public or private sector, to a direct benefit transfer (DBT) of Rs 500...

-Down to Earth The habitability of housing, rather than just its availability, will be an important factor in the future, given the trends in climate change The summer of 2022 has been the second-hottest since 2010, according to Delhi-based think tank, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). The winter, monsoon and post-monsoon are also warming up. The mere availability of housing is no longer sufficient in such a scenario. It should also...

-Down to Earth The production of the allium has doubled in the last decade; Chinese, Iranian garlic with larger cloves in greater demand, say farmers There have been several calls to allow garlic export after several video clips on social media showed farmers from Madhya Pradesh throwing out or burning their crops, allegedly over low prices of the allium.  One clip making rounds showed the crop being dumped into a river, while another...

-Down to Earth Undergoing hysterectomy at younger ages can have adverse health impacts including osteoporosis and cardiovascular diseases The rise in cases of hysterectomy or the surgical procedure for uterus removal in India has been a cause of concern in recent years, with critics complaining that doctors are too quick to take out the uterus at the smallest sign of trouble. While it is difficult to gauge the actual extent of the problem...