#What is the major disease of sugarcane crop?

[2023flywithavplinternational]

Importance of Drone Technology in Indian Agriculture, Farming

OVERVIEW OF THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY IN INDIA

India's agricultural industry operates with great diversity and scale, making significant contributions to both the nation's economy and the livelihoods of its rural population. With the service sector holding the leading position in GDP, the agricultural sector remains a vital pillar, boasting impressive production records in crops such as pulses, milk, rice, wheat, sugarcane, and spices. These agricultural activities generate substantial value, contributing a remarkable 18% to the country's GDP. Supporting nearly 58% of India's population, particularly those in rural areas, the agrarian sector, along with forestry and fishing, collectively contributes around Rs 18.55 lakh crore (US$265.51 billion) in Gross Added Value. The agricultural industry steadily expands, aligning with parallel sectors and experiencing a growth rate of 2.1% in 2019-20.

India's GDP

Despite Indian agriculture's significant contribution to the GDP, there is still a pressing need to improve productivity and efficiency in order to fully unlock its potential. It is crucial to identify and address various dimensions and concerns that hinder progress in the sector. One major challenge lies in the adoption of unsuitable methods for monitoring crops, irrigation, pesticide use, and other essential farming practices. Insufficient resources, misallocation according to weather conditions, and underutilization also contribute to a decline in Return on Investment (ROI).

However, these obstacles present numerous opportunities for technological growth and development. Technology has played a consistently positive role in the agricultural sector since its inception. Recognizing the importance of food security and the detrimental impacts of environmental degradation, pollution, and water scarcity, governments and businesses across India are increasingly driven to overcome these challenges. Integrating advanced technologies and innovation in agriculture holds great potential to provide solutions and propel the sector toward progress.

What are the advantages of embracing agricultural drone technology?

Indian agriculture is by providing real-time monitoring and surveillance. Drones equipped with cameras can fly over large areas of farmland and capture high-resolution images or videos. This data can then be analyzed to detect plant diseases, pests, or weeds at an early stage, allowing farmers to take immediate action. Additionally, drones can be used for crop spraying, which can significantly reduce the amount of time and resources needed compared to traditional methods. By precisely targeting areas in need of fertilizers or pesticides, drones can minimize the impact on the environment and improve the effectiveness of crop treatments. Furthermore, drones can also assist in mapping and land surveying. They can generate detailed 3D maps of farmland, helping farmers in better planning irrigation systems, optimizing the use of land, and identifying areas prone to erosion or drainage issues. Overall, the use of drones in Indian agriculture can streamline operations, increase productivity, reduce costs, and promote sustainable farming practices.

With the predicted increase in the world's population and agricultural consumption by 2050, the demand for drone technology equipped with artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and remote sensing features is on the rise. Recognizing the importance of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and AI, the Indian government has introduced the 'Digital Sky Platform' online. This has provided an opportunity for drone startups in India to enhance their technological capacities. By incorporating AI and ML into drone systems, farmers can benefit from advanced data analytics, improved crop monitoring, and more precise decision-making. The integration of remote sensing capabilities further enables the collection of valuable agricultural data, contributing to better crop management and increased productivity. Through these advancements, drones are poised to play a significant role in meeting the future challenges of food production and ensuring sustainable agriculture practices.

HOW DOES DRONE TECHNOLOGY WORK?

In order to understand agricultural drones and their benefits, it is important to recognize their key characteristics. These drones typically come equipped with a navigation system, GPS, multiple sensors, high-quality cameras, programmable controllers, and autonomous capabilities. One popular drone used in the industry is DJI. While farmers currently rely on satellite imagery for farm management, drones equipped with advanced technology can provide more precise and detailed data for precision agriculture. This data is then processed using agri-tech software, resulting in valuable insights for farmers.

Capturing data from agricultural drones typically occurs in the following stages:

1. Planning: The farmer or operator determines the specific area to be surveyed and plans the flight path of the drone using mapping software.

2. Pre-flight checks: The drone undergoes necessary inspections, including battery, motor, and sensor checks, to ensure proper functioning.

3. Takeoff: The drone is launched and starts flying along the predetermined flight path.

4. Data collection: Equipped with high-quality cameras and sensors, the drone captures aerial imagery, including photographs and videos, as well as collects data on various agricultural parameters such as crop health, soil moisture, or temperature.

5. Real-time monitoring: In some cases, the drone may transmit live data to a ground control station, allowing the operator to monitor the flight and data collection process in real-time.

6. Post-flight data processing: The captured data and imagery are then downloaded and processed using specialized software, which can generate accurate and detailed maps, 3D models, or analyze specific agricultural metrics.

7. Data analysis and interpretation: Farmers or agronomists analyze the processed data, identifying patterns, potential issues, or areas that require attention. It can help in making informed decisions related to irrigation, fertilization, pest control, or yield estimation.

8. Actionable insights: Based on the analysis, actionable insights are generated, which assist farmers in optimizing crop health, resource allocation, and ultimately improving agricultural productivity and efficiency.

By following these stages, agriculture drones enable farmers to gather precise and up-to-date information about their fields, aiding in effective decision-making and resource management.

DRON PRACTICE :

Drone technology has revolutionized traditional agricultural practices in various ways:

1. Irrigation Monitoring: Drones equipped with sensors can identify dry areas and irrigation issues, improving water efficiency and detecting leaks.

2. Crop Health Monitoring: Drones capture multispectral images to track crop health, enabling early detection of pests or diseases and efficient intervention.

3. Crop Damage Assessment: Drones detect areas affected by weeds, infections, or pests, helping farmers to apply precise treatments and reduce costs.

4. Field Soil Analysis: Drone surveys provide valuable data for seed planting patterns, soil analysis, and nutrient management, optimizing agricultural practices.

5. Planting: Drone-planting systems shoot pods with seeds and nutrients into the soil, reducing costs and increasing efficiency and consistency in planting.

6. Agricultural Spraying: Drones can spray pesticides more quickly and precisely than traditional methods, minimizing human exposure to chemicals.

7. Livestock Tracking: Drones aid in monitoring livestock movements, locating lost animals, and detecting injuries or illnesses using thermal sensors.

By leveraging drone technology, farmers can enhance productivity, optimize resource management, and make more informed decisions for sustainable agriculture practices.

BENEFITS OF DRONE TECHNOLOGY

Drones have revolutionized agriculture with their numerous benefits. They offer precision and efficiency by providing accurate data for optimized resource allocation. This leads to cost savings and increased productivity. Drones also enhance safety by eliminating the need for humans to perform risky tasks. With their quick data collection and analysis capabilities, farmers can make informed decisions in real-time. Moreover, drones promote environmental sustainability by minimizing resource usage and reducing waste. Their accessibility makes them valuable for managing remote or inaccessible agricultural areas. Overall, drone technology is transforming agriculture, paving the way for improved efficiency and sustainable practices.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the adoption of drone technology in Indian agriculture holds immense potential for driving productivity, efficiency, and sustainability. Drones offer precise monitoring of crops, early detection of diseases and pests, and optimized resource allocation. By reducing costs, improving safety, and providing real-time data analysis, drones empower farmers to make informed decisions and enhance overall agricultural practices. With the predicted increase in global food demand, embracing drone technology is crucial for meeting future challenges and ensuring sustainable farming practices. The benefits of drone technology in Indian agriculture are vast, making it a transformative tool for the industry's growth and development.

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[easyfoodnetwork]

Meet Four Craft Chocolate Makers Decolonizing the Industry

Jill Fannon/Eater

Chocolate makers Jinji Fraser, Karla McNeil-Rueda, Damaris Ronkanen, and Daniel Maloney on how ancestry informs what they do, and how to eradicate cultural erasure in the industry

Over a perfect omelet brimming with spring ramps and morels, I found myself stunned mid-chew as I listened to the words of my father. Moments earlier, I learned from him that my grandfather’s final bit of travel before he died was to Guyana, where our ancestors had lived, and where he had arranged to meet with a distant family member. Between bites, my dad continued, “there’s a Fraser family land trust outside of Georgetown...”

As a student of geography, I knew the region he’d begun to describe to be a major coastal export hub of Guyanese hinterland treasures, like gold, diamonds, and rice. As a chocolate maker, I knew Georgetown to be just west of cacao-rich rainforest. And right there, as I absently mopped up omelet sweat with a hunk of crusty bread, I felt the dissolution of the intimidation I had often felt while making chocolate in a male, white-dominant landscape. Our family land signified an ancestral connection to the greater sacred cacao story, which I suddenly found myself belonging to, creating a new grounding in my career. No longer was my work a radical dissent from the mainstream. It was now an homage to all who had come before me, passed down from generations ago through my DNA, and into my hands.

Even as my own story continues to unfold — through family lineage research and eventual travel to Guyana to see what has come of our land — I became fascinated with the ethnic diversity of the craft chocolate industry. I began to wonder about the ancestral rites of passage by BIPOCs (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) whose inclusion and celebration as chocolate makers has been marginalized in the media while the contributions of white men are normalized and bolstered. The narrow lens through which craft chocolate is seen is not only to the detriment of Indigenous chocolate makers globally, but also robs consumers of the chacne to experience the multitude of ways chocolate is produced. Healing the short-sightedness of our already fragile industry works toward universal fair-trade practices, equitable treatment of women farmers and producers, and the celebration of the work of BIPOC makers worldwide.

I spoke with Karla McNeil-Rueda (Cru Chocolate), who focuses on drinking chocolate, drawing from her own family experience while bringing attention to the undeniable influence of Mesoamerican heritage on the chocolate industry. Damaris Ronkanen (Cultura Craft Chocolate) also brought family nostalgia to our discussion, grounding herself solidly in community activism by educating the youth in chocolate making. Finally, I talked with Daniel Maloney (Sol Cacao), whose Trinidadian roots inspire him to continue his family lineage in cacao, as well as encourage an industrywide commitment to fair-trade practices. Altogether, we investigate how ancestry informs what they do and how they do it, as well as how we might eradicate cultural erasure in chocolate making, creating visibility and opportunity for more diversity.

The following interviews have been edited for clarity and length.

Karla McNeil-Rueda

Co-Founder, Cru Chocolate, Sacramento, California

Eater: Did you find chocolate, or did chocolate find you?

Karla McNeil-Rueda: A bit of both. Chocolate, and cacao to be more specific, has always been here; it’s part of who we are, like corn, like a family member — it’s part of our DNA. Growing up in Honduras, we had many cacao- and chocolate-based drinks in different seasons with as many names as there were flavors, so this is a big part of our diet.

Keba Konte, courtesy McNeil-Rueda

Karla McNeil-Rueda

In the U.S., the chocolate-making space is dominated by white men. How do you find your own way?

Yes, it is true that what most people understand as chocolate making in the U.S. is represented mostly by white men, but we have no interest in fitting into that category. What they call chocolate is different to us; chocolate is our heritage and part of what we are. It is health, pleasure, an everyday ritual, a state of mind and a way of being. So we will never find our way in the chocolate industry; we must remain true to our own way. Chocolate in the U.S. and Europe needs the romance and the exotic appeal of a faraway land. For us, those lands are our homes, and that makes a big difference in our approach.

We also choose to only work with people who think differently, and [who] value the contribution of small and local businesses. These are people who also want to work with us, and don’t need to receive a container full of cacao in order to feel fulfilled — just how I don’t need to have a mega factory in order to find value in my work. It takes more time, more phone calls, more resources, more fun, more humanity, more everything — but that is what I love, that is the joy of freedom.

How does your ancestry inform what you do and the way you do it?

For me, ancestry is made up of the seeds and foods that fed those before us, including the agreements they made and work that they did in keeping each other alive through thousands and thousands of years.

So as we cook, our kitchens can become temples and our pantries can transform into altars, which opens our space for the feelings, emotions, memories and questions that arise. That is why I like to cook with music. It helps me have a sensibility,

This is how I feel my ancestry speaks, through food and especially through cacao. I notice how my thoughts change as the roasting or the grinding changes. We can better accompany our foods by listening as they go through these changes, because in the same way, they have accompanied us as we experience change in our daily lives.

How do we reconcile being chocolate makers when the industry is still entrenched in colonialism?

I think that the industry as a whole is dominated by many people, many colors, and many genders across the supply chain. There are many white women replicating colonial systems here in the U.S., and there are also many brown men enforcing this system at the farm level. The lack of fairness and equal opportunity in the chocolate industry has its roots in extraction, and that thrives in separation and in the erasing of others.

Import and export of crops are entrenched in colonialism, but cacao is an ancient native food, so you can also find many people still growing and making chocolate who are originally from the land in which cacao grows.

Colonialism is real, but so are the Indigenous people of these places. They are alive and thriving even with an imposed system, because they belong there. Colonialism is strong, but I believe our ancestral ways are stronger. We must have faith in the survival of these Indigenous groups; we must look for them, we must awaken a sincere desire for them to thrive.

It requires work, time, relationships, knowing each other’s culture, knowing each other’s languages, and courtship. That’s why colonialism is so appealing to many: You don’t have to know anything in order to participate and make money. A big lie of colonialism is the belief that there are no buying options; there’s only one way, the original people are gone, and what’s left is the colony. This is not true.

How do we create more diversity in the chocolate-making world?

First we must acknowledge the chocolate-making world is very diverse. In any city where you find immigrants from Mesoamerica, I guarantee you they are making chocolate.

That said, why is it easy for people to recognize a white man who had never seen a cacao tree before becoming a chocolate maker? And what makes it so hard to see a woman from Mesoamerica who has been making chocolate for generations as a chocolate maker? Why do people celebrate one and condemn the other?

I think when people rethink chocolate ... things will change. As long as people only chase the industrial candy bar, the craft chocolate bar, or the sugar- and cream-filled bon-bons, chocolate as a way of living among BIPOC will remain invisible. Misrepresenting chocolate creates social, environmental, and cultural problems, which at their core create disease and poverty for farmers and consumers.

Daniel Maloney

Co-Founder, Sol Cacao, the Bronx, New York

Courtesy Sol Cacao

Sol Cacao co-founders and brothers Dominic, Nicholas, and Daniel Maloney

Eater: Did you find chocolate, or did chocolate find you?

Daniel Maloney: At Sol Cacao, we believe chocolate found us. Growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, one of our most memorable moments was our grandmother carrying a basket of vegetables in both hands and a bowl of herbs balancing on her head. She would do this ritual everyday, even after turning 99. She would show my brothers and I all the vegetables she would pick, and their nutritional benefits. These early memories would leave a major impression and seed our interest in food security and sustainable and renewable agriculture. Before my brothers and I enrolled in college, our father began telling stories of our grandparents and how they practiced farming for over 35 years. Their favorite crops were sugarcane and the cacao tree. After learning these stories, we saw it in ourselves that we are capable of being cocoa farmers or chocolate makers.

How do you stay grounded in your craft, and navigate the persistent colonialism in the chocolate industry?

When we launched Sol Cacao, there were few people of color in the industry, so we had no choice but to jump into it and learn the process. We would dream about someday being on a cacao farm and picking the beans to make chocolate, a dream our grandparents were never able to fully realize for themselves. For these reasons we viewed chocolate making as a culture and family legacy, which gave us inspiration to pave our own way in the chocolate industry.

As a chocolate maker in the 21st century, we carry the responsibility to correct some of the historical injustices which have taken place in the cacao industry. One way chocolate makers are doing this is through traceability and transparency in their chocolate-making process. It starts with where and how the cacao beans are grown and harvested by sourcing organic or fair-trade cacao. Through purchasing fair-trade cacao, we ensure the cacao farmers get the correct compensation to have a livable wage to make change back in their local communities, to global effect.

Damaris Ronkanen

Founder, Cultura Craft Chocolate, Denver, Colorado

Eater: What family memories have informed your perception of chocolate?

Damaris Ronkanen: My abuelita would always have fresh tortillas and atole in the morning. She would get up early and take her nixtamal [cooked corn] to the molino, where they would grind the corn into fresh masa. When she came back she would make tortillas by hand and use a little bit of the masa to make a fresh batch of atole. Whenever I was there she always made sure to make champurrado (a chocolate atole) since she knew it was my favorite. She would toast cacao beans on her comal and grind them by hand using her metate. She would then blend the chocolate into the steaming hot atole and use her molinillo to whisk it until it was super frothy. The process was mesmerizing.

Juan Fuentes, courtesy Ronkanen

Damaris Ronkanen

Unfortunately, I could never replicate this to be quite the same when I was back in the U.S. There weren’t molinos to grind your corn, and people didn’t make their own nixtamal, and there definitely weren’t cacao beans freshly toasted and ground by hand.

How has your business model evolved since its inception?

When we started out making chocolate, the big guys of the chocolate-making industry defined what craft chocolate was, so we felt the pressure to make bars in order to succeed. Still, I was pulled by my Mexican roots, and the memories of market visits and fresh champurrado with my grandmother.

There was a huge difference between my grandmother’s texture and European texture. When we officially started Cultura, I wanted to get back to my heritage, so we introduced drinking chocolate. I knew in order to honor my grandmother, and to move my business forward, I would need to define what I was doing on my own terms and decide what impact my business could have on my community. As successful as the bars were at the wholesale level, they weren’t speaking to my soul.

What is your approach in how you communicate about chocolate in your work?

After experiencing such a pivotal moment in 2018, opening Cultura, connecting with my roots helped define not only what I wanted to create, but how I talk about chocolate too. Our local community in Westwood is composed largely of Mexican immigrants, and we made it part of our mission to create a non-intimidating space where families could feel at home with familiar flavors. They might not immediately connect with the single-origin bars we offer, but they definitely get excited about the drinking chocolate, which opens a door to educate about origin, terroir, and processing.

Even in the way we designed our logo, and chose a mural for the outside of our building, people in the community feel welcome. It becomes a true form of empowerment for our community when they take part in hands-on classes, teaching everything from where the cacao originates to making beverages to explaining what the molinillos they may have seen around their grandparents’ houses are actually used for.

How have you been able to find success while avoiding the elitist mentality around chocolate making?

We focus on culturally relevant chocolates. I’ve learned to not try and emulate the style of chocolates other companies were making, but instead to make chocolate that our community appreciates, and that highlights my heritage. Without having real experience, these other companies construct their narratives around their sourcing, creating a false reality of how much impact they really have on the groups of people they feature on their social media feeds. These stories are used for marketing and to drive up pricing. There’s a certain elitism in craft-chocolate making that fetishizes authenticity through communication and packaging in order to make their product accessible for white people.

We don’t have the influence and reach of these other companies, but that isn’t the goal either. It has taken a lot of effort for people to understand why we do things the way we do, but I’ve always known there was so much more my business is capable of in terms of making chocolate accessible and engaging our community.

How can we leave the door open to create more diversity in the chocolate making world?

The question we’ve always asked of ourselves is: What impact can our company have? A conversation I would like to see happen is of the limited entrepreneurial spirit and access in America. In Mexico, the opportunity is available to everyone to continue family traditions in business. Here, there is a lot of intimidation and difficulty in making your own path. So in order to positively influence this issue, we exclusively hire women from within the community. We offer classes to youth who otherwise don’t have access to craft chocolate — this is their space too. We are bilingual, so there aren’t any language barriers to learning or curiosity.

Jill Fannon/Eater

Jinji Fraser

Jill Fannon/Eater

The lingering question is: What actionable steps might we take to inspire a new generation of BIPOC chocolate makers, and how can they feel justified in exploring the craft of chocolate making in their own ways without intimidation or judgment?

“BIPOC makers need to organize and create their own BIPOC chocolate makers association, in which we spend time and resources educating, supporting, and uplifting each other, and where many ways of expressing chocolate can coexist,” McNeil-Rueda says. As for me, my earliest experience in chocolate making was at the International Chocolate Show in Paris in 2012. I learned then, and have known through my career, that an impeccable bar is one whose texture is smooth and melt is indiscernible from one’s own body temperature. Perfection and accolades are both sought through thousands of dollars of stainless-steel equipment and, importantly, an agreement and an eidetic memory of European technique.

My most recent experience of chocolate making in Guatemala was categorically different, and wildly more satiating: Indigenous women slow-roasting beans over an open flame, then hulling them using friction and the wind, before using a molcajete to grind the beans into a paste heavy with grit and fragments of all the cacao ever to pass that stone bowl, ready for drinking. In that moment of awed observation, I felt that this technique and experience should be allowed to live in those Highlands, and with their descendants; respected without appropriation, lauded with curiosity and intrigue. I knew it was upon me to discover what methods and practices are innate to me, and then to educate my community on a broader vision of good chocolate.

As it relates to chocolate, one should be able to choose their pleasure. However, this is not a journey that can be void of education. There must be support for the idea that chocolate takes on many different forms, and freedom for each form to exist means respect for all who make it. “Positions of leadership in craft chocolate companies should be held by Black and brown people in order to heal the whitewashing of our cultural roots,” says Ronkanen. Indeed, that would be a collective effort to decolonize chocolate and acknowledge the ancestral pathways critical to making the industry whole.

Jinji Fraser is a Baltimore-based writer and chocolate-maker at Pure Chocolate by Jinji.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/3kgZVpA https://ift.tt/3m5Q9qO

Jill Fannon/Eater

Chocolate makers Jinji Fraser, Karla McNeil-Rueda, Damaris Ronkanen, and Daniel Maloney on how ancestry informs what they do, and how to eradicate cultural erasure in the industry

Over a perfect omelet brimming with spring ramps and morels, I found myself stunned mid-chew as I listened to the words of my father. Moments earlier, I learned from him that my grandfather’s final bit of travel before he died was to Guyana, where our ancestors had lived, and where he had arranged to meet with a distant family member. Between bites, my dad continued, “there’s a Fraser family land trust outside of Georgetown...”

As a student of geography, I knew the region he’d begun to describe to be a major coastal export hub of Guyanese hinterland treasures, like gold, diamonds, and rice. As a chocolate maker, I knew Georgetown to be just west of cacao-rich rainforest. And right there, as I absently mopped up omelet sweat with a hunk of crusty bread, I felt the dissolution of the intimidation I had often felt while making chocolate in a male, white-dominant landscape. Our family land signified an ancestral connection to the greater sacred cacao story, which I suddenly found myself belonging to, creating a new grounding in my career. No longer was my work a radical dissent from the mainstream. It was now an homage to all who had come before me, passed down from generations ago through my DNA, and into my hands.

Even as my own story continues to unfold — through family lineage research and eventual travel to Guyana to see what has come of our land — I became fascinated with the ethnic diversity of the craft chocolate industry. I began to wonder about the ancestral rites of passage by BIPOCs (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) whose inclusion and celebration as chocolate makers has been marginalized in the media while the contributions of white men are normalized and bolstered. The narrow lens through which craft chocolate is seen is not only to the detriment of Indigenous chocolate makers globally, but also robs consumers of the chacne to experience the multitude of ways chocolate is produced. Healing the short-sightedness of our already fragile industry works toward universal fair-trade practices, equitable treatment of women farmers and producers, and the celebration of the work of BIPOC makers worldwide.

I spoke with Karla McNeil-Rueda (Cru Chocolate), who focuses on drinking chocolate, drawing from her own family experience while bringing attention to the undeniable influence of Mesoamerican heritage on the chocolate industry. Damaris Ronkanen (Cultura Craft Chocolate) also brought family nostalgia to our discussion, grounding herself solidly in community activism by educating the youth in chocolate making. Finally, I talked with Daniel Maloney (Sol Cacao), whose Trinidadian roots inspire him to continue his family lineage in cacao, as well as encourage an industrywide commitment to fair-trade practices. Altogether, we investigate how ancestry informs what they do and how they do it, as well as how we might eradicate cultural erasure in chocolate making, creating visibility and opportunity for more diversity.

The following interviews have been edited for clarity and length.

Karla McNeil-Rueda

Co-Founder, Cru Chocolate, Sacramento, California

Eater: Did you find chocolate, or did chocolate find you?

Karla McNeil-Rueda: A bit of both. Chocolate, and cacao to be more specific, has always been here; it’s part of who we are, like corn, like a family member — it’s part of our DNA. Growing up in Honduras, we had many cacao- and chocolate-based drinks in different seasons with as many names as there were flavors, so this is a big part of our diet.

Keba Konte, courtesy McNeil-Rueda

Karla McNeil-Rueda

In the U.S., the chocolate-making space is dominated by white men. How do you find your own way?

Yes, it is true that what most people understand as chocolate making in the U.S. is represented mostly by white men, but we have no interest in fitting into that category. What they call chocolate is different to us; chocolate is our heritage and part of what we are. It is health, pleasure, an everyday ritual, a state of mind and a way of being. So we will never find our way in the chocolate industry; we must remain true to our own way. Chocolate in the U.S. and Europe needs the romance and the exotic appeal of a faraway land. For us, those lands are our homes, and that makes a big difference in our approach.

We also choose to only work with people who think differently, and [who] value the contribution of small and local businesses. These are people who also want to work with us, and don’t need to receive a container full of cacao in order to feel fulfilled — just how I don’t need to have a mega factory in order to find value in my work. It takes more time, more phone calls, more resources, more fun, more humanity, more everything — but that is what I love, that is the joy of freedom.

How does your ancestry inform what you do and the way you do it?

For me, ancestry is made up of the seeds and foods that fed those before us, including the agreements they made and work that they did in keeping each other alive through thousands and thousands of years.

So as we cook, our kitchens can become temples and our pantries can transform into altars, which opens our space for the feelings, emotions, memories and questions that arise. That is why I like to cook with music. It helps me have a sensibility,

This is how I feel my ancestry speaks, through food and especially through cacao. I notice how my thoughts change as the roasting or the grinding changes. We can better accompany our foods by listening as they go through these changes, because in the same way, they have accompanied us as we experience change in our daily lives.

How do we reconcile being chocolate makers when the industry is still entrenched in colonialism?

I think that the industry as a whole is dominated by many people, many colors, and many genders across the supply chain. There are many white women replicating colonial systems here in the U.S., and there are also many brown men enforcing this system at the farm level. The lack of fairness and equal opportunity in the chocolate industry has its roots in extraction, and that thrives in separation and in the erasing of others.

Import and export of crops are entrenched in colonialism, but cacao is an ancient native food, so you can also find many people still growing and making chocolate who are originally from the land in which cacao grows.

Colonialism is real, but so are the Indigenous people of these places. They are alive and thriving even with an imposed system, because they belong there. Colonialism is strong, but I believe our ancestral ways are stronger. We must have faith in the survival of these Indigenous groups; we must look for them, we must awaken a sincere desire for them to thrive.

It requires work, time, relationships, knowing each other’s culture, knowing each other’s languages, and courtship. That’s why colonialism is so appealing to many: You don’t have to know anything in order to participate and make money. A big lie of colonialism is the belief that there are no buying options; there’s only one way, the original people are gone, and what’s left is the colony. This is not true.

How do we create more diversity in the chocolate-making world?

First we must acknowledge the chocolate-making world is very diverse. In any city where you find immigrants from Mesoamerica, I guarantee you they are making chocolate.

That said, why is it easy for people to recognize a white man who had never seen a cacao tree before becoming a chocolate maker? And what makes it so hard to see a woman from Mesoamerica who has been making chocolate for generations as a chocolate maker? Why do people celebrate one and condemn the other?

I think when people rethink chocolate ... things will change. As long as people only chase the industrial candy bar, the craft chocolate bar, or the sugar- and cream-filled bon-bons, chocolate as a way of living among BIPOC will remain invisible. Misrepresenting chocolate creates social, environmental, and cultural problems, which at their core create disease and poverty for farmers and consumers.

Daniel Maloney

Co-Founder, Sol Cacao, the Bronx, New York

Courtesy Sol Cacao

Sol Cacao co-founders and brothers Dominic, Nicholas, and Daniel Maloney

Eater: Did you find chocolate, or did chocolate find you?

Daniel Maloney: At Sol Cacao, we believe chocolate found us. Growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, one of our most memorable moments was our grandmother carrying a basket of vegetables in both hands and a bowl of herbs balancing on her head. She would do this ritual everyday, even after turning 99. She would show my brothers and I all the vegetables she would pick, and their nutritional benefits. These early memories would leave a major impression and seed our interest in food security and sustainable and renewable agriculture. Before my brothers and I enrolled in college, our father began telling stories of our grandparents and how they practiced farming for over 35 years. Their favorite crops were sugarcane and the cacao tree. After learning these stories, we saw it in ourselves that we are capable of being cocoa farmers or chocolate makers.

How do you stay grounded in your craft, and navigate the persistent colonialism in the chocolate industry?

When we launched Sol Cacao, there were few people of color in the industry, so we had no choice but to jump into it and learn the process. We would dream about someday being on a cacao farm and picking the beans to make chocolate, a dream our grandparents were never able to fully realize for themselves. For these reasons we viewed chocolate making as a culture and family legacy, which gave us inspiration to pave our own way in the chocolate industry.

As a chocolate maker in the 21st century, we carry the responsibility to correct some of the historical injustices which have taken place in the cacao industry. One way chocolate makers are doing this is through traceability and transparency in their chocolate-making process. It starts with where and how the cacao beans are grown and harvested by sourcing organic or fair-trade cacao. Through purchasing fair-trade cacao, we ensure the cacao farmers get the correct compensation to have a livable wage to make change back in their local communities, to global effect.

Damaris Ronkanen

Founder, Cultura Craft Chocolate, Denver, Colorado

Eater: What family memories have informed your perception of chocolate?

Damaris Ronkanen: My abuelita would always have fresh tortillas and atole in the morning. She would get up early and take her nixtamal [cooked corn] to the molino, where they would grind the corn into fresh masa. When she came back she would make tortillas by hand and use a little bit of the masa to make a fresh batch of atole. Whenever I was there she always made sure to make champurrado (a chocolate atole) since she knew it was my favorite. She would toast cacao beans on her comal and grind them by hand using her metate. She would then blend the chocolate into the steaming hot atole and use her molinillo to whisk it until it was super frothy. The process was mesmerizing.

Juan Fuentes, courtesy Ronkanen

Damaris Ronkanen

Unfortunately, I could never replicate this to be quite the same when I was back in the U.S. There weren’t molinos to grind your corn, and people didn’t make their own nixtamal, and there definitely weren’t cacao beans freshly toasted and ground by hand.

How has your business model evolved since its inception?

When we started out making chocolate, the big guys of the chocolate-making industry defined what craft chocolate was, so we felt the pressure to make bars in order to succeed. Still, I was pulled by my Mexican roots, and the memories of market visits and fresh champurrado with my grandmother.

There was a huge difference between my grandmother’s texture and European texture. When we officially started Cultura, I wanted to get back to my heritage, so we introduced drinking chocolate. I knew in order to honor my grandmother, and to move my business forward, I would need to define what I was doing on my own terms and decide what impact my business could have on my community. As successful as the bars were at the wholesale level, they weren’t speaking to my soul.

What is your approach in how you communicate about chocolate in your work?

After experiencing such a pivotal moment in 2018, opening Cultura, connecting with my roots helped define not only what I wanted to create, but how I talk about chocolate too. Our local community in Westwood is composed largely of Mexican immigrants, and we made it part of our mission to create a non-intimidating space where families could feel at home with familiar flavors. They might not immediately connect with the single-origin bars we offer, but they definitely get excited about the drinking chocolate, which opens a door to educate about origin, terroir, and processing.

Even in the way we designed our logo, and chose a mural for the outside of our building, people in the community feel welcome. It becomes a true form of empowerment for our community when they take part in hands-on classes, teaching everything from where the cacao originates to making beverages to explaining what the molinillos they may have seen around their grandparents’ houses are actually used for.

How have you been able to find success while avoiding the elitist mentality around chocolate making?

We focus on culturally relevant chocolates. I’ve learned to not try and emulate the style of chocolates other companies were making, but instead to make chocolate that our community appreciates, and that highlights my heritage. Without having real experience, these other companies construct their narratives around their sourcing, creating a false reality of how much impact they really have on the groups of people they feature on their social media feeds. These stories are used for marketing and to drive up pricing. There’s a certain elitism in craft-chocolate making that fetishizes authenticity through communication and packaging in order to make their product accessible for white people.

We don’t have the influence and reach of these other companies, but that isn’t the goal either. It has taken a lot of effort for people to understand why we do things the way we do, but I’ve always known there was so much more my business is capable of in terms of making chocolate accessible and engaging our community.

How can we leave the door open to create more diversity in the chocolate making world?

The question we’ve always asked of ourselves is: What impact can our company have? A conversation I would like to see happen is of the limited entrepreneurial spirit and access in America. In Mexico, the opportunity is available to everyone to continue family traditions in business. Here, there is a lot of intimidation and difficulty in making your own path. So in order to positively influence this issue, we exclusively hire women from within the community. We offer classes to youth who otherwise don’t have access to craft chocolate — this is their space too. We are bilingual, so there aren’t any language barriers to learning or curiosity.

Jill Fannon/Eater

Jinji Fraser

Jill Fannon/Eater

The lingering question is: What actionable steps might we take to inspire a new generation of BIPOC chocolate makers, and how can they feel justified in exploring the craft of chocolate making in their own ways without intimidation or judgment?

“BIPOC makers need to organize and create their own BIPOC chocolate makers association, in which we spend time and resources educating, supporting, and uplifting each other, and where many ways of expressing chocolate can coexist,” McNeil-Rueda says. As for me, my earliest experience in chocolate making was at the International Chocolate Show in Paris in 2012. I learned then, and have known through my career, that an impeccable bar is one whose texture is smooth and melt is indiscernible from one’s own body temperature. Perfection and accolades are both sought through thousands of dollars of stainless-steel equipment and, importantly, an agreement and an eidetic memory of European technique.

My most recent experience of chocolate making in Guatemala was categorically different, and wildly more satiating: Indigenous women slow-roasting beans over an open flame, then hulling them using friction and the wind, before using a molcajete to grind the beans into a paste heavy with grit and fragments of all the cacao ever to pass that stone bowl, ready for drinking. In that moment of awed observation, I felt that this technique and experience should be allowed to live in those Highlands, and with their descendants; respected without appropriation, lauded with curiosity and intrigue. I knew it was upon me to discover what methods and practices are innate to me, and then to educate my community on a broader vision of good chocolate.

As it relates to chocolate, one should be able to choose their pleasure. However, this is not a journey that can be void of education. There must be support for the idea that chocolate takes on many different forms, and freedom for each form to exist means respect for all who make it. “Positions of leadership in craft chocolate companies should be held by Black and brown people in order to heal the whitewashing of our cultural roots,” says Ronkanen. Indeed, that would be a collective effort to decolonize chocolate and acknowledge the ancestral pathways critical to making the industry whole.

Jinji Fraser is a Baltimore-based writer and chocolate-maker at Pure Chocolate by Jinji.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/3kgZVpA via Blogger https://ift.tt/35plJcn

[whenelephantswereyoung]

Elephants’ Uncertain Outlook

Photo:  Melanie Hittrich

How a human pandemic is disrupting the lives of elephants

Written by Marguerite du Plessis

When the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded in early 2020, industries slowed,  livelihoods changed, and humans around the world became housebound.  In  doing so, we largely retreated from a century’s long expansion into  natural habitats around the world, and this sudden shift in activity has  led to unexpected consequences, including disruptions to the lives of  several elephant populations.

As humans stepped inwards, some elephants stepped outwards.  Asian  and African elephants who previously had their movements restricted to  sanctuaries and wildlife reserves suddenly found themselves with fewer  human conservation officers maintaining a watchful eye.  This has led to  several examples of elephants modestly expanding their ranges in recent  months.  In Asia, it also meant that elephants working in the logging  or tourism industries no longer had to be subjected to daily labor.   Sadly, these two examples appear to be relatively minor benefits, and  they pale in comparison to the negative externalities that the human  pandemic is having on pachyderms.

Photo:  Melanie Hittrich

For African elephants living in parks and sanctuaries, their safety  is typically safeguarded by crews of rangers and caretakers, but with  international tourism coming to a halt, important sources of revenue  that would normally be invested into elephants are no longer coming in.   Charities also play a vital role in supporting elephant conservation,  but the economic conditions created by the pandemic are leading to fewer  dollars being donated to these worthy causes.  With fewer resources  available to invest in elephant protection, it seems inevitable that  poachers will be emboldened in their actions and that the ivory trade  will likely proliferate under these conditions.  Beyond poaching, for  their tusks, there has also been an increase in hunting elephants for  bushmeat.  Elephant meat presents an option for hungry locals who find  themselves in economic hardship and facing their starvation.

In Asia, before the pandemic, the most significant threat to elephant  populations was habitat loss due to expanding human settlement.  This  has taken the form of agricultural expansion plus the construction of  roads, canals, and fences that fragment elephant territory.  The result  has been rising instances of human-elephant conflict, with elephants  attempting to follow their ancient migratory routes then encountering  crops and property along the way.  This has led to animosities, as well  as human and elephant deaths.  During the pandemic, these major issues  have not dissipated.  In fact, COVID 19 has indirectly led to increased  elephant mobility.  This surge boosted instances where elephants are  encroaching on farmland and the resultant elephant deaths follow come  whenever farmers feel their livelihoods are at risk.

Photo:  canazwest pictures

In Thailand, where the majority of the elephant population has been  domesticated, the pandemic is having a notable impact.  The  approximately 3,800 domesticated elephants in Thailand generally help  earn their keep as entertainment attractions but the arrangement has  created a dependency to be fed.  In their natural habit, their diet  consists of grasses, leaves, roots, the bark of trees, bushes, and some  cultivate food such as bananas, rice, and sugarcane. However, in camps,  lots of this food needs to be purchased.  In Thailand it costs  approximately $40 a day to feed an elephant; however, that is  substantially more than the daily minimum wage. Before the pandemic  tourism contributed 20 percent of Thailand’s gross domestic product, a  large part of which were drawn from Chinese visitors.  Now many of the  elephant camps have had to close down or reduce operations.  Operators  are faced with the choice of continuing to feed and house the elephants  until the tourists return, or simply releasing the elephants into the  wild. However, their natural habitat has become more infiltrated with  human presence making the ideal opportunity to release domesticated  elephants into the wild a tricky to come by.

Photo:  canazwest pictures

“Once an elephant is captured and trained the elephants develop a  bond with the handler,” says Dr. Kushal Konwar Sarma, a veterinarian,  and member of Project Elephant, a government-sponsored wildlife  conservation program.  “If you release captive elephants into the wild  there is a familiarity problem.  These animals, which are trained, have  no fear of fire, have no fear of the gunshot wounds or firecrackers.”

However, research has shown that domesticated elephants can thrive in  the wild, but the right terrain and assistance is required.  The goal  is to reduce human-elephant conflict and that requires breaking the  habit of human dependence.  The Elephant Reintroduction Foundation has  demonstrated that this is possible with the reintroduction of over a  hundred domesticated elephants into Doi Pha Muang Wildlife Sanctuary,  Sublangka Wildlife Sanctuary, and Mae Wa-Mae Wok National Park in  Thailand.  For some elephants reintroduction is easier than others,  interestingly it turns out a key factor in their reintroduction success  is associated with human perception of elephants.

Elephant Reintroduction Foundation, Sublangka Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand Photo:  canazwest pictures

In India, where Dr. Sarma is based, the human population continues to  suffer under pandemic conditions, but here elephants have fared  somewhat better than other countries.  The value placed on elephants by  Hindus, which make up 80% of the population, is underscored by a belief  that elephants are sacred.  “As a matter of principle, people revere  elephants and feel very bad when elephants suffer from starvation or  diseases, so they try to help because they are helping their god,”  explained Dr. Sarma.

As most working elephants return to their handlers’ home villages  they are welcomed into mostly forested territories where there is a rich  supply of greenery and even some fruit like bananas and jackfruit.  In  Indian, the majority of elephants are wild, which means there is less  unexpected human-elephant interaction than in other Asian countries and  perhaps more opportunity for newly released elephants to successfully  locate safe territories.  The challenge becomes whether or not the  elephants choose to remain near human settlements.  It is when the  human-elephant interactions become unmanageable that elephant deaths  really start to rise, and the recent economic stress placed on farmers  by the pandemic has only escalated the human-elephant tension.

If adapting to the human pandemic wasn’t enough of a challenge for  elephants, one group of them may be facing a crisis of their own.  In  July, Botswana’s ministry of environment, natural resources  conservation, and tourism advised that 356 elephants [1]have  died since March 2020 of an unknown cause.  Neither the tusks nor meat  had been removed from the animal carcasses, which meant that poaching or  hunting were unlikely causes of death.  There does remain a chance that  elephants were poisoned, but thus far biological samples sent to 3  international labs have not been able to identify anything.  Scavengers  of these carcasses, like vultures and hyenas, have equally shown no  signs of poisoning or disease.  These deaths may not be related to COVID  19; moreover, it could not be pathogenic at all.  There are simply not  enough clues available to identify a cause yet.  What can be said is  that COVID19 has impeded the investigation, as shipments of these  biological samples are hindered by the current pandemic restrictions in  place.

While it is well known that humans and elephants have a long history  together, it has come rather as a surprise to see that it is the absence  of humans that have had the most pressing impact on elephants’  welfare.  It appears even in times of crises human and elephant behavior  is closely intertwined.

Photo:  Michael Clark

Marguerite du Plessis is a biologist and science journalist with a  passion for nature. Her writing has covered developing science as it  impacts communities and opinion editorials for the outdoor enthusiast.

[1] Ministry of Environment, natural resource conservation, and tourism. (2020).  Elephant Morality in the Seronga Area: Frequently Asked Questions  [Press Release]. 15 July

[worldelephantday]

Elephants’ Uncertain Outlook

Photo:  Melanie Hittrich

How a human pandemic is disrupting the lives of elephants

Written by Marguerite du Plessis

When the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded in early 2020, industries slowed, livelihoods changed, and humans around the world became housebound.  In doing so, we largely retreated from a century’s long expansion into natural habitats around the world, and this sudden shift in activity has led to unexpected consequences, including disruptions to the lives of several elephant populations.

As humans stepped inwards, some elephants stepped outwards.  Asian and African elephants who previously had their movements restricted to sanctuaries and wildlife reserves suddenly found themselves with fewer human conservation officers maintaining a watchful eye.  This has led to several examples of elephants modestly expanding their ranges in recent months.  In Asia, it also meant that elephants working in the logging or tourism industries no longer had to be subjected to daily labor. Sadly, these two examples appear to be relatively minor benefits, and they pale in comparison to the negative externalities that the human pandemic is having on pachyderms.

Photo:  Melanie Hittrich

For African elephants living in parks and sanctuaries, their safety is typically safeguarded by crews of rangers and caretakers, but with international tourism coming to a halt, important sources of revenue that would normally be invested into elephants are no longer coming in. Charities also play a vital role in supporting elephant conservation, but the economic conditions created by the pandemic are leading to fewer dollars being donated to these worthy causes.  With fewer resources available to invest in elephant protection, it seems inevitable that poachers will be emboldened in their actions and that the ivory trade will likely proliferate under these conditions.  Beyond poaching, for their tusks, there has also been an increase in hunting elephants for bushmeat.  Elephant meat presents an option for hungry locals who find themselves in economic hardship and facing their starvation.

In Asia, before the pandemic, the most significant threat to elephant populations was habitat loss due to expanding human settlement.  This has taken the form of agricultural expansion plus the construction of roads, canals, and fences that fragment elephant territory.  The result has been rising instances of human-elephant conflict, with elephants attempting to follow their ancient migratory routes then encountering crops and property along the way.  This has led to animosities, as well as human and elephant deaths.  During the pandemic, these major issues have not dissipated.  In fact, COVID 19 has indirectly led to increased elephant mobility.  This surge boosted instances where elephants are encroaching on farmland and the resultant elephant deaths follow come whenever farmers feel their livelihoods are at risk.

Photo:  canazwest pictures

In Thailand, where the majority of the elephant population has been domesticated, the pandemic is having a notable impact.  The approximately 3,800 domesticated elephants in Thailand generally help earn their keep as entertainment attractions but the arrangement has created a dependency to be fed.  In their natural habit, their diet consists of grasses, leaves, roots, the bark of trees, bushes, and some cultivate food such as bananas, rice, and sugarcane. However, in camps, lots of this food needs to be purchased.  In Thailand it costs approximately $40 a day to feed an elephant; however, that is substantially more than the daily minimum wage. Before the pandemic tourism contributed 20 percent of Thailand’s gross domestic product, a large part of which were drawn from Chinese visitors.  Now many of the elephant camps have had to close down or reduce operations.  Operators are faced with the choice of continuing to feed and house the elephants until the tourists return, or simply releasing the elephants into the wild. However, their natural habitat has become more infiltrated with human presence making the ideal opportunity to release domesticated elephants into the wild a tricky to come by.

Photo:  canazwest pictures

“Once an elephant is captured and trained the elephants develop a bond with the handler,” says Dr. Kushal Konwar Sarma, a veterinarian, and member of Project Elephant, a government-sponsored wildlife conservation program.  “If you release captive elephants into the wild there is a familiarity problem.  These animals, which are trained, have no fear of fire, have no fear of the gunshot wounds or firecrackers.”

However, research has shown that domesticated elephants can thrive in the wild, but the right terrain and assistance is required.  The goal is to reduce human-elephant conflict and that requires breaking the habit of human dependence.  The Elephant Reintroduction Foundation has demonstrated that this is possible with the reintroduction of over a hundred domesticated elephants into Doi Pha Muang Wildlife Sanctuary, Sublangka Wildlife Sanctuary, and Mae Wa-Mae Wok National Park in Thailand.  For some elephants reintroduction is easier than others, interestingly it turns out a key factor in their reintroduction success is associated with human perception of elephants.

Elephant Reintroduction Foundation, Sublangka Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand Photo:  canazwest pictures

In India, where Dr. Sarma is based, the human population continues to suffer under pandemic conditions, but here elephants have fared somewhat better than other countries.  The value placed on elephants by Hindus, which make up 80% of the population, is underscored by a belief that elephants are sacred.  “As a matter of principle, people revere elephants and feel very bad when elephants suffer from starvation or diseases, so they try to help because they are helping their god,” explained Dr. Sarma.

As most working elephants return to their handlers’ home villages they are welcomed into mostly forested territories where there is a rich supply of greenery and even some fruit like bananas and jackfruit.  In Indian, the majority of elephants are wild, which means there is less unexpected human-elephant interaction than in other Asian countries and perhaps more opportunity for newly released elephants to successfully locate safe territories.  The challenge becomes whether or not the elephants choose to remain near human settlements.  It is when the human-elephant interactions become unmanageable that elephant deaths really start to rise, and the recent economic stress placed on farmers by the pandemic has only escalated the human-elephant tension.

If adapting to the human pandemic wasn’t enough of a challenge for elephants, one group of them may be facing a crisis of their own.  In July, Botswana’s ministry of environment, natural resources conservation, and tourism advised that 356 elephants [1]have died since March 2020 of an unknown cause.  Neither the tusks nor meat had been removed from the animal carcasses, which meant that poaching or hunting were unlikely causes of death.  There does remain a chance that elephants were poisoned, but thus far biological samples sent to 3 international labs have not been able to identify anything.  Scavengers of these carcasses, like vultures and hyenas, have equally shown no signs of poisoning or disease.  These deaths may not be related to COVID 19; moreover, it could not be pathogenic at all.  There are simply not enough clues available to identify a cause yet.  What can be said is that COVID19 has impeded the investigation, as shipments of these biological samples are hindered by the current pandemic restrictions in place.

While it is well known that humans and elephants have a long history together, it has come rather as a surprise to see that it is the absence of humans that have had the most pressing impact on elephants’ welfare.  It appears even in times of crises human and elephant behavior is closely intertwined.

Photo:  Michael Clark

Marguerite du Plessis is a biologist and science journalist with a passion for nature. Her writing has covered developing science as it impacts communities and opinion editorials for the outdoor enthusiast.

[1] Ministry of Environment, natural resource conservation, and tourism. (2020).  Elephant Morality in the Seronga Area: Frequently Asked Questions  [Press Release]. 15 July

[ethreesixty]

Why is Agriculture important to Pakistan?

To understand this question you need to understand what agriculture is and why does it play such an important role in Pakistan. To make it simple; Agriculture is the science and art of cultivating plants and livestock. In other words, it is the planting and growing of products that play a major role in enhancing the human life and economy of Pakistan. Importance: Agriculture contributes largely to Pakistan’s economy and is accounted for 26% of the total gross domestic product (GDP). Three-quarters of the country’s population is supported by agriculture and half of the labor force relies on employment from this industry. As the rate of unemployment begins to decrease and the, per capita income starts to rise, the living standards further commence which results in better basic facilities such as health, hygiene, and education. Furthermore, it provides a large share of foreign exchange earnings by exporting some of the main crops and livestock as raw materials. The foreign exchange is then used up for improving the remaining sectors of the economy. Hence it can be said that it’s a great patron to progressing the marketplace. Elements: The essential and main crop products of agriculture include Cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, etc Cotton:

Pakistan is one of the four dominant countries of cultivating two-third of the world’s cotton, which is an exceeding contributor to the textile industry in Pakistan and all over the world. It is grown during the monsoon months and plays an important role in export accounting for 55% of countries export earnings. Wheat: Wheat is the most valuable grain and a staple food for more than one-third of the world population. Amongst the wheat-producing country, Pakistan holds 10th position in terms of area and yield. For some years Pakistan has been a merchant for wheat while at times it has been an exporter. Rice:

Pakistan is the world’s 10th largest producer of rice. It is of significance to the national economy and an important cash crop. Rice is grown on lands of Sindh and Punjab where many farmers rely on the cultivation of rice as their major source of employment. Basmati is the most famous variety of rice grown in Pakistan known for its flavor and quality. Sugarcane: The average production of sugar cane in Pakistan is 450 - 500 maunds per acre which is very much low compared to the cane production by other countries. Pakistan occupies an important position in cane producing countries of the world. It ranks at the fifth position in cane acreage production and almost 15th position in sugar production.

In conclusion, all of these crops play an important withholding the economy and increasing the value of exports of Pakistan. Looking at crops, it’s not an easy job growing these crops without help which is why farmers make use of heavy machinery. Mechanized agriculture is a process that makes use of modern machinery to automate agriculture work, increasing the productivity of farmworkers. Nowadays a lot of machinery has replaced many farmers’ jobs previously carried out by manual labor. Improving production efficiency, mechanization encourages the large scale of production and sometimes can improve the quality of farm produce. What’s New? The Punjab agriculture department is contributing a 50% subsidy on the installation of the solar system, for sprinkle and drip irrigation, in order to coincide with the water shortage and advance the productivity of agriculture in Pakistan. According to the assistant director of the agriculture department, Naveed Asmat Kohloon, sprinkle and drip irrigation system is being introduced at 20,000 acres in the Punjab province. The government has assigned Rs 3.68 billion for the project. Sprinkle and Drip Irrigation system is of vital importance. It will not only save water for irrigation but also enhance agriculture productivity. Naveed stated that the solar system will additionally improve the reducing expense on fuel. Furthermore, it is said to be environmentally friendly. He urged farmers to contact the Irrigation Department and avail exclusive form for extending applications for subsidy

How to Improve the Agriculture Sector to get maximum efficiency: Over the past few years, the Pakistani landscape has been damaged by a range of destructive climate forces varying from desertification to over-flooding. As a result of these factors, Pakistan’s overall economy has suffered. In order to know how to improve agriculture, we first need to counter the problems. What are the problems? The various problems agriculture currently is facing are financial, natural and techno-economic. The total area of Pakistan is about 79.6 million hectares put of which 0nly 23.7 million hectares are being used for the purpose of agriculture. Approx 8 mill is unutilized. There’s a broad class of landholdings that makes it tough for farmers to use modern machinery in a small scale area. Additionally, The deposit of sand due to the rise in water tables has greatly affected the land making it unsuitable for cultivation. About 0.10 million hectares of land have been damaged and the cause is waterlogging and salinity which further reduces the productivity of crops. Plant Diseases damage the agricultural crops like cotton, sugarcane; wheat, etc are attacked by pests and insects resulting in low productivity. Furthermore, financial problems that occur are a shortage of Agriculture finance and low credit. Agriculture credit facilities are lacking in Pakistan’s rate of interest in agriculture is high and loans aren’t being provided on time. Countering these problems, what can be done?

To control waterlogging and salinity, tube wells and alternative method of irrigation can be installed to avoid the rise in water tables. The ministry of agriculture, however, has proposed large investments with the objective of covering around 2, 00,000 hectares of land with good irrigation systems. Farm mechanization can be helpful in increasing the productivity of the crops in order to increase the export value. By modern harvesting and cultivation method quality and quantity of crops can rise. Read the full article

[clusterassets]

New world news from Time: The Global Water Crisis: Why Are India’s Taps Running Dry?

Towards the end of May, one of India’s most popular summer retreats nearly ran out of water.

Shimla, a historic hill town in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, is the latest addition to a list of Indian towns and cities that are starved for water. Earlier this year Bangalore, home to the country’s information technology sector, made it to a list of world cities most likely to run out of drinking water. It joins other parched metropolises like Cape Town, Jakarta and Sao Paolo.

Residents of Shimla had to wait nearly four days to get water, with many lining up with buckets to collect water from tankers. The situation worsened over the following week, pushing authorities to close state schools for five days and to ask tourists to stay away.

India is reeling under a sustained water crisis that shows no signs of abating. Excessive demand coupled with mismanaged water resources, erratic weather patterns and climate change have led to a sad state of affairs.

Water disputes abound within the country and among its neighbors. Six Indian states are involved in battles over the river waters of the Yamuna in the north, the Narmada in the midwest and the Cauvery in the south. Meanwhile, India is also dealing with Pakistan and Bangladesh over water usage.

There is not a single Indian city that can provide potable water from its taps. In fact, a 2018 report from global advocacy group WaterAid put India at the top of its list of countries with the worst access to clean water close to homes—163 million Indians live this way.

The country’s dependence on agriculture, which forms a significant part of its economy and employs about 800 million people, cripples water management even further—especially given the unpredictable monsoons.

With the rainy season just beginning in India, here’s a look at the water crisis in the world’s second most populous country.

How bad is it?

According to government data, the average annual per capita water availability fell 15% between 2001-2011. It’s predicted to fall another 13% by 2025 and 15% again by 2050, which means that in another 30 years each Indian household will have about 1.1 million liters of water per year, down from 1.8 million liters in 2011. (A country is considered to be suffering from water scarcity when availability is less than 1 million liters per capita per year.)

The news doesn’t get better when you consider that India’s burgeoning population could grow to 1.8 billion, if current fertility rates continue, and that agriculture is a major part of the Indian economy.

Already farmer suicides are a common occurrence. Farmers usually take heavy loans to purchase seed for sowing and many take their lives when they are unable to pay their debtors if their crops fail. A common cause of this is drought and lack of access to irrigation facilities. A 2017 study found that nearly 60,000 farmers had committed suicide in the past three decades due to climate change. The study found that even a 1cm increase in rainfall led to a 7% drop in suicides.

Drastic measures are being taken to deal with the crisis. In the past, armed guards have been stationed at reservoirs to prevent water theft and trains have been used to transport water to suffering areas. In March this year, the state of Gujarat stopped the supply of irrigation water from a major dam to ensure there was enough for drinking purposes.

Unfortunately, unchecked pollution has turned thousands of water sources into bodies of filth and disease. The Ganges, one of India’s most famous and important rivers, is in such a terrible state that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set up a special task force to clean it up. In the south, Bangalore’s Bellandur Lake is so toxic that methane fires are often seen on its surface.

Bellandur Lake once again caught fire at 4 different spots on Friday afternoon. The fires are being reported closers to the DRDO and Army Firing range premises in Iblur. Video Credit – Anu Tandon, resident, Orchid Lakeview apartments @MNReddi_IPS @bbmpcommr @BBMP_MAYOR pic.twitter.com/xoBzTmLrx8

— Citizen Matters (@citizenmatters) January 19, 2018

Why is it so bad?

To put it simply, there’s too much demand and not enough supply. India’s burgeoning population woes aside, climate change is seen as a major factor in the country’s water crisis. Scorching summers and shortened winters have resulted in reduced snow cover and retreating glaciers in the Himalayas—the ice melt from these areas is what feeds the country’s northern rivers. Add to that fickle monsoons that threaten to disrupt long-established crop patterns and you have a recipe for disaster in many parts of the country.

Then there’s agriculture, which, by some estimates, accounts for 90% of India’s water consumption. Farmers are sometimes slow to change what they sow and continue to grow thirsty crops like rice and sugarcane in parched regions. They meet these irrigation demands by indiscriminately extracting groundwater, which some say accounts for a quarter of the world’s groundwater usage.

Read more: What It’s Like to Live Through Cape Town’s Massive Water Crisis

This has led to a substantial drop in the levels of India’s water table, which is a major concern. There has been a 61% decline in the country’s water levels from 2007 to 2017. Rajendra Singh, a well-known water conservationist nicknamed “India’s waterman,” has said that over 70% of the country’s groundwater is in “overdraft”, implying that more water is consumed than is replenished.

Water pollution and poor resource management have also contributed to limited availability. A study of Delhi’s piped water systems a few years ago found that 40% of the city’s water is lost due to pipe leaks and thefts via unauthorized connections.

What’s the solution?

For starters, India can look to Israel and Singapore.

Israel is a poster child for sustainable water consumption in the world. The largely arid country has implemented a centralized water management system, set up desalination plants, encouraged the use of treated waste water for farming and propagated the idea of drip irrigation, which involves dripping water onto the roots of crops rather than flooding entire fields.

Similarly, Singapore has been very smart about meeting its water needs efficiently. In addition to desalination and the use of recycled waste water, the city-state gives priority to building reservoirs and catchments to collect as much natural water as possible. According to the government, water catchment areas now cover two-thirds of Singapore’s surface area, up from half in 2011.

It might also be time to reconsider what is grown and investigate if there are better ways to cultivate those crops. Many of India’s important agricultural products, such as rice, wheat, sugarcane and cotton, are incredibly water-intensive, but their propensity for a high yield makes them more popular than other environmentally friendly options.

Steps are being taken to alleviate water problems. Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an $87 billion plan to link 60 rivers across India in an attempt to provide better irrigation sources and reduce flooding, though its efficacy remains to be seen. Some Indian states, like Maharashtra—the home state of Mumbai—have chosen to implement Israel’s drip irrigation method for entire crops like sugarcane. In the same state, cultivators have dug “farm pools” to harvest rainwater for sustained irrigation purposes in small areas.

There is some cause for optimism. WaterAid, the NGO that ranked India among the worst country for household drinking water access, has also ranked it one of the most-improved nations in terms of the numbers of people able to access clean water as a result of initiatives made since 2000. But major changes need to be made to save the world’s second most populous nation from running dry.

June 06, 2018 at 01:57PM ClusterAssets Inc., https://ClusterAssets.wordpress.com