Science & Technology - Briefs

archaeology Egyptians loved junk food

From the blurbs

Agricultural Growth The role of techhnlogy, incentives and institutions by A Vaidyanathan, OUP, Rs 675 These essays by a renowned agricultural expert stress that agriculture cannot be jacked up to a higher growth trajectory without a significant shift in strategies, priorities, and major institutional reforms. Our choice, a plan to save the climate crisis by Al Gore, Penguin, Rs 999

Experts give them a miss

farmers do not disappear when they are not making news by protesting support prices or committing suicides (see Sweet victory)

Abscisic acids stressful tactics

for botanists, the hormone abscisic acid is an antihero. Unlike other hormones that promote plant growthnamely auxins, gibberellinsabscisic acid retards growth, prevents buds from blooming and closes the pores through which the plant breathes. But this is not to kill the plant. Rather, it protects the plant during drought, salinity.

Harvesting troubles

This year the wheat harvesting season witnessed the growing trend towards the use of combine harvesters. This machine combines the tasks of harvesting, threshing, and cleaning of grain. Till a decade ago, most of the wheat crop was harvested manually, mostly by landless or near-landless farm workers from the same or neighbouring villages. They were paid mostly as a share of the harvested producequite often one

Countdown to copenhagen

Brazil announces deep emission cut Ahead of Copenhagen

Instant rice

soaked in water, the parboiled rice grains expanded, softened and were ready to eat, surprisingly. Sharma had heard about rice that can be eaten without cooking but for the first time he saw it happen in front of his eyes.

Women grow food basket

Whenever I went missing as a child, my mother would come looking for me in the pata, Lalitabai Meshram said, laughing out loud. My friends and I would play in the tangled vines for hours, making dolls of corn husk and hair, eating groundnuts, beans and waluk melon. Sometimes I would fall asleep there, recalled Meshram, now 50-plus.

Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property

whoever cheats and thereby dishonestly induces the person deceived to deliver any property to any person, or to make, alter or destroy the whole or any part of a valuable security, or anything which is signed or sealed, and which is capable of being converted into a valuable security, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine. -Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 Dishonesty hit the atmosphere

Science and Technology - Briefs

agricultural sciences Potato genes mapped