In the midst of COVID-19 lockdown, desert locust swarms have been seen in parts of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh in the second half of May 2020. The recent attacks by desert locust swarms have caused massive crop damage, depletion in the stock of cattle fodder and destruction of green vegetation in these states. As on 25th May, 2020, over half of Rajasthan’s 33 districts were...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Locusts attack India: Global swarming explained -Prabhash K Dutta
-IndiaToday.in Desert locusts run after rains and greenery. They follow the wind patterns to cover a vast stretch from the Rab' al-Khali desert of Saudi Arabia to the fields of Rajasthan and beyond. Here's why experts are calling it global swarming To feed and to breed is life. Rest is civilisation. Desert locusts are feeding and breeding in agricultural fields, the basis of human civilisation. At least five states in India are...
More »Will our farmers be thrown out like stateless immigrants?
-The Telegraph More than half of the country's small and marginal farmers continue to be left out of the ambit of formal finance A recent report by the Reserve Bank of India found that despite a plethora of schemes aimed at financial inclusion, only 40.9 per cent of small and marginal farmers have so far been covered by the banking system. Small and marginal farmers are defined as those with operational land...
More »Supreme Court continues its stay on eviction of lakhs of forest dwellers
-The Hindu Their claims for forest land rights have been rejected under the Forest Rights Act of 2006 The Supreme Court on Thursday continued its stay on the eviction of lakhs of Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers whose claims for forest land rights have been rejected under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006. A Bench led by Justice Arun Mishra posted the case for hearing on November 26 and said...
More »Planting forests no panacea for the climate crisis: IPCC -Tarun Gopalakrishnan
-Down to Earth The IPCC’s Special Report on Climate Change and Land says land-based carbon sinks are not limitless The carbon cycle is classically described in terms of ‘sources’ and ‘sinks’ of emissions. The electricity sector, which converts fossil fuels into light and heat, is a source (as are most human activities since the dawn of the industrial age). Identifying sinks is trickier. We know that, as a general principle, more forest cover...
More »