Bee pollination improves crop quality, shelf life and commercial value: Study on market value compared with wind and self-pollination – Royal Society

by

‘Pollination crisis’ hitting India’s vegetable farmers

A decline in pollinating insects in India is resulting in reduced vegetable yields and could limit people’s access to a nutritional diet, a study warns. […]Despite the concern, no study had been done to assess directly the scale of the decline in natural pollinators, explained Parthiba Basu, from the University of Calcutta’s Ecology Research Unit. […]He explained that certain crops did not depend on insects for pollination, including cereals. Instead, the plants used other mechanism – such as relying on the wind to carry the pollen.However, many vegetables – such as pumpkin, squash, cucumber and gherkin – were reliant on insects, such as bees. […]Dr Basu said: “There is an obvious indication that within the ecological farming setting, there is pollinator abundance. This method typically provides the habitats for natural pollinators – this is the way forward.”He added that if the team’s findings were extrapolated, this would offer a “clear indication” that India was facing a decline in natural pollinators, as ecological farming was only practiced on about 10-20% of the country’s arable land. […]Troubling timesThe UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that of the slightly more than 100 crop species that provide 90% of food supplies for 146 countries, 71 are bee-pollinated, primarily by wild bees, and a number of others are pollinated by other insects. […]In industrialised nations, such as the US and in Europe, many farms employ the services of commercial hives to pollinate fruit trees and food crops, and ensure they harvest adequate yields.But Dr Basu said the use of domesticated bees in this context was not widespread in South Asia.

“There are honey farmers, but using hives in the field to pollinate crops is not at all common in India,” he said. […]

A number of possible causes have been suggested, including the misuse of pesticides, habitat loss and fragmentation, and the spread of parasites and diseases.  […]

Source: BBC News – ‘Pollination crisis’ hitting India’s vegetable farmers
Address : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11418033
Date Visited: Fri Jan 10 2014 19:43:22 GMT+0100 (CET)

Read more

Distributing books, journals and periodicals in places with poor access to bookstores: Scholarswithoutborders.in – New Delhi

by

The idea behind  Scholars without Borders (SwB) is to highlight the best of Indian academic writing, and make it possible to obtain this material online. By “obtain” we mean both to get digital content where such content is available, as well as to be able to order online or via the phone when only the … Read more

Discussing “modernity and tradition”: Dongria’s rights to their religion, to give or withhold their consent and to choose their own future and livelihood – Odisha

by

Excerpt Twelve palli sabhas (tribal gram sabhas) in the Niyamgiri Hills of Orissa covering  the entire 250 sq km area is the sacred abode of Niyamraja, the supreme deity of the 8,000-strong Dongaria Kondh, a primitive tribe, straddling the Kalahandi-Rayagada district divide. The Supreme Court on April 12, 2013, directed that tribal opinion be specifically … Read more

Towards an alternative model of legal service delivery: The “Bilaspur Declaration” in the service of rural and tribal communities – Chhattisgarh

by

N. R. Madhava Menon, The Hindu Opinion, December 3, 20 To be able to deliver appropriate legal services to the rural and tribal communities, we need an alternative delivery system with a different model of legal service providers Delivery of legal services to the rich and the corporate class is organised not through individual lawyers … Read more

Ranchi University will have a department for each for all the nine languages – Jharkhand

by

The Times of India, Oct 7, 2013

RANCHI: Ranchi University may soon get separate departments each for all the nine languages being taught in the tribal regional language (TRL) department.

This has been a longstanding demand and the proposal was approved in the senate meeting of Ranchi University (RU) in August this year. […]

Of the nine languages taught in the TRL department, there are five tribal and four regional languages. The tribal languages are Kudukh, Ho, Mundari, Khadia and Santhali while the regional languages are Nagpuri, Panchpargania, Khortha and Kurmali.

Asked why was it necessary to make separate departments for all languages, Oraon said, “There is only one PG department for all nine languages being taught in the TRL department where more than 800 students are enrolled. It is difficult to manage all these students under one department. Until and unless there is a separate department for each language, quality education cannot be imparted.”

Source: Ranchi University to get nine departments for tribal languages – Times Of India
Address : http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-10-07/news/42793696_1_languages-kurmali-panchpargania
Date Visited: Thu Oct 31 2013 19:19:08 GMT+0100 (CET)

[Bold typeface added above for emphasis]

Ranchi University website: www.ranchiuniversity.org.in

Related posts

Read more