Letters - December 15, 2012

Leave Them Alone This is with reference to the article, “Tourism in Jarawa buffer, officially” (November 16-30, 2012). The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been home to several distinct tribes for tens of thousands of years. But the administration, first the British and later the Indian government, brought nothing but disaster for the tribes. Only the Sentinelese tribe remains untouched by the devastation due to their isolated location and aggressive behaviour towards outsiders.

Khap panchayat bans paddy

Water wise

THERE is hope for wheat farmers whose crop yields are affected by soil salinity. A team of researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Waite Research Institute in Australia have developed a salt-tolerant strain of durum wheat which yields 25 per cent more grains in saline soil conditions.

Court cements Nirma claim

FARMERS of 15 coastal villages in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district have intensified their stir against Nirma company’s cement plant proposed on a waterbody. Activists are mobilizing people against the plant by screening films showing the impact the project will have on farmers of Mahuva tehsil.

Oh dear!

The conservation broth has got eager hands to stir it. Some throw in extra spices to experiment with the taste. But that sometimes spoils the broth. For instance, the forest department’s prescription to tackle the dearth of prey base for tigers in the Sunderbans: release deer in the mangroves.

Plantation mirage

THE Great Indian Desert, Thar, is expanding, swallowing and degrading about 12,000 hectares of productive land every year.

India desertified

Modified to work

APPROXIMATELY 6.73 million hectares of India’s agricultural land is affected by varying degrees of soil salinity. About 130 million hectares are under agriculture.

South Asia

Salt-resistant Paddy: A new strain of paddy developed by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute offers hope to coastal farmers who are abandoning paddy farming due to soil salinity. The new salt-resistant paddy—BRRI Dhan 47—can withstand 12-14 deci-siemens per metre (dS/m) conductivity (higher electricity conductivity indicates higher salinity) while they are tender and 6 dS/m conductivity in its lifespan of 155 days. The strain can be grown in shrimp enclosures also.

Shrimp lose shine in Bangladesh

Soil salinity and falling global prices push farmers to agriculture An increasing number of shrimp farmers in Bangladesh are going back to paddy farming. They don't find the business lucrative anymore. Reason? "Shrimp farming has rendered our village saline...Even groundwater has become too salty to drink," said Krishnapada Mandal.