Letters - March 15, 2012

Puranas as sci-fi

Razing Aravalls (Video Special)

Aravallis razed

Call it sheer callousness of the Rajasthan government or connivance between administrative officials and mining mafia, two hills of the primitive Aravalli mountain range have been literally razed to the ground and beyond within a span of four years. All that remain are large open pits, as deep as several metres, interspersed with hundreds of dumpers, tractors and columns of granite, awaiting a final blow.

Rise of livestock

Policy makers in India are finally acknowledging a structural shift in the agriculture sector they have been noticing for a decade. Economic contribution of livestock is today more than that of food grain crops. Traditionally, of the three components of the sector—crops, livestock and fisheries—crops drove the growth, and food grains are a major part of it. As a result, policy and programmes focused on crops.

The goat gamble

Giyasilal Saini is a marginal farmer who has market savvy. It comes from experience. Living in a semi-arid area like Alwar in Rajasthan, he always knew he could not depend on farming alone. So he would keep some goats, like others in village Jaitpura. Then three years ago the pond that irrigated his tiny field dried up. “Rains have not been enough. I spent a fortune on irrigating my field but could not grow enough for my family,” said the 36-year-old. He devoted his energy to goat rearing.

High cost of fodder led milk price hike

Birmashri Rathore knows exactly how much water to add to milk so that it can still be accepted as milk.

Saga of two villages

Sukhomajri, a village in Haryana's Panchkula district, became a model of self-reliant development in the 1980s. Its journey from the depths of poverty to a level of prosperity that made it the first Indian village to pay income tax has been a source of inspiration the world over. What lay behind this incredible story was its success in managing its ecological wealth by creating a powerful and united village institution the Hill Resource Management Society (hrms).

SUBSIDISED KILLING

AS FAR AS the eye can see, it is a mass of horns in a desiccated, semi-arid landscape. The horns emerge sideways from the head, turn up, and then arch back at the tips, as if swept back by the wind. Kankrej, native to northern Gujarat, is quite a regal-looking breed of cattle.

The milk that ate the grass

SCENE I: 5 am in the morning, a household in any part of India. The milkman rings the doorbell. The sleepy-eyed customer takes the daily quota of the white fluid and prepares for the day ahead. There are more than 900 million people in the country. The demand for milk is stupendous. And the country just became the largest producer of milk in the world.

Spoilt for choice

A German supermarket is a consumer’s delight. Numerous varieties of fruits and vegetables greet the eye. There are native and exotic fruits, piles of lettuce, kohlrabi, onions and potatoes—all for a few cents. The milk products section has countless varieties of dairy products. The sheer mass of cheap milk products makes selection difficult. The consumer also has choices galore in the sausage and meat section.