A CROSS THE central India, mahua trees are in full bloom. Revered as the “tree of life” by tribal communities, their flowers signal the start of a four-month season when forests generate the much-needed cash for the country’s 300 million people, living at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder, and a hectic schedule for traders, processors and exporters. Lucrative produce like tendu leaves, sal seeds, bamboo, and lac, become available only during this period, and get the country’s Ì€ 20,500 crore-year forest-based economy going. “But this time the market is completely stagnant,” says Mayank Agarwal of Shree Vinayak Enterprises, a lac processor and exporter in Purulia district of West Bengal. Purulia is a major lac manufacturing and exporting hub in the country. On April 16, soon after extending the 21-day lockdown to 40 days to contain the spread of coronavirus, the Centre exempted collection and trading of lac and other nontimber forest produce (NTFP) from the rules. “It has been 10 days since the announcement. Yet I have not received any fresh raw material,” says Rakesh Gupta of Ganesh Lac Udyag in Kolkata that primarily caters to the domestic market. “This is because policies take time to translate into action in an unorganized industry like lac,” he adds. Agarwal, however, says he is not in a position to buy fresh lac even if they arrive. “I have not been able to sell my stocks as most of my clients are in countries like the US, China, and Spain that are badly hit by the pandemic,” says Agarwal.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 01, 2020-Ausgabe von Down To Earth.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 01, 2020-Ausgabe von Down To Earth.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
INVISIBLE THREAT
Significant presence of microplastics in Puducherry’s agricultural soil raises concerns for soil and crop health
Feeding off each other
VEGETARIAN MOVEMENTS IN SOUTH ASIA AND THE WEST GREW WITH MUTUAL SUPPORT AND VALIDATION
India's unhealthy patent amendments
Despite strong pleas, the Modi regime has changed the rules to impose a cost on those who challenge faulty patents
URBAN DISCOMFORT
Poorly planned, heat-trapping infrastructure, along with dwindling natural spaces, turn up the temperatures in major Indian cities
BLAZING SUN IS ON
Rising temperatures are testing the limits of human tolerance to heat. With their predominantly built-up landscape, urban areas offer no respite. A study by the Centre for Science and Environment on the morphology and heat patterns of nine Indian cities over the past decade shows how these urban centres are turning into heat islands with a potentially serious impact on human health. An analysis by Rajneesh Sareen, Mitashi Singh and Nimish Gupta, with Shagun in Haryana and Kiran Pandey
"H5N1 may be more severe than COVID-19"
In early April, the US confirmed the first case of avian influenza in livestock, along with cow-to-human transmission of the virus disease.
A PSYCHEDELIC HIGH
Driven by surge in global trials and low success rate of current medications in treating mental health problems, researchers call for home-grown clinical trials of psychedelic drugs
Locked out
Two years after becoming the only state to be excluded from the Centre's ruralemployment guarantee scheme, villages in West Bengal grapple with distress migration and debt traps
'Protection from climate change part of right to life'
The Supreme Court of India, on April 5, recognised that citizens have a right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change, saying it is intertwined with the fundamental rights to life and equality. Here are the key arguments articulated by the three-judge bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra in their judgement
Weaving dreams
Tribal communities in West Bengal slowly embrace traditional weaving to ensure sustainable livelihood