Womanly Tales

Deepan enrolled me to spend a day at the British Museum at an event that was focused on the potential [past and future] of India. The day consisted of four talks / discussions in addition to an optional tour of the related exhibits at the museum [Kew's Indian landscape being my main draw].
I went with trepidations because the day started out like a normal work day for me – something that I grumbled about. Getting up in the morning, ensuring that I cooked a main meal and by the time I sat down within the Central line tube car I was bushed already. Forty-five minutes later I was at the venue, wary of how the day would progress – even my anticipation of viewing Kew’s Indian landscape buried in a small corner of my mind.
The first speaker was a man from Kew who quickly took a look at the audience and quickly singled himself out as the only scientist. I was a tad offended. Scientist I might not be but I wasn’t all too sure about what about our appearances had him thus resigned! Five minutes into his introduction he professed expertise on the continent of Africa thus sidestepping any real grasp of understanding the environmental contraints of the sub-continent – none of this doing him any favors in the eyes of his audience. His presentation then carried forth a series of slides about the Millenium seed bank initiative [one that I absolutely am totally behind] intersperced with a few ideas & facts & figures about it’s relationship to India.
Here are my notes for those of you interested. [I am partial to facts & figures[starved as I am to those collected around India especially] so you’ll see more of that here than any of my observations]
About the Millenium seed bank project:
- Their main seed bank in the Arctic is protected by polar bears.
- Only 0.6% of our natural biodiversity [solely crop seeds] is being targetted in this project.
- Will it work? 5% freeze doubles the span of a seed.
So why should India get involved?
- 61% of Indian land is used for cultivation, 3.29 million km2 land surface area.
- 62% of population in agriculture and 32% of gdp is from agriculture.
- Source: IFPRI, 2008 – 200 million people in India are hungry.
- India’s population: 1966 – 500 million growing to 1.5-1.7 billion in 2050.
- Problem statement: Need to feed 500 million people in addition to current demands.
Threats to all countries:
- 50% of all of our calorie intake come from wheat, rice and maize.
- 80% of intake from 12 plants, 4 tubers and something else that I wasn’t fast enough to capture.
- Diminishing diversity: 60k – 100k are threatened to extinction [We don't even have an inventory of all species - something Kew is working on currently]
Threats specific to India:
- Lost land – Salination is a big threat.
Is it possible to restore land to natural habitat? Example: Use of salt tolerant species to reduce salt levels and thus reclaim the land for agri. purposes.
- Water scarcity – 92% of water devoted to agriculture, 70% of irrigation comes from ground water. By 2020, demand will outstrip supply / if not sooner.
Can we build ground water supply by restoring catchment forests that aren’t just using monocultures but a complex ecosystem?
- 193 million cattle [our holy cows] are putting pressure on forests that need to be cleared to provide pastures.
- 6k tons of topsoil lost to river
- What about reclaiming mining land for agriculture or restoration of catchment forests? Example in Australia where land used for boxite mining is then followed by a restoration process by putting back 100 species.
Climate change threats:
- Increase in CO2 levels and pests.
- Temp increase of 2.5deg C – 4.9 dec C: Loss of 32 – 40% of rice and upto 52% of wheat.
- 1m increase in water levels can displace 7 million people.
Conclusion points:
- Plant based solutions can only be part of the solution.
- Put research into practice as it suits local conditions.
A new phrase I learnt: ‘Bio climatic envelope’ – It’s basically the conditions available for a seed to germinate. The shorter the period the less we will attain the potential of the seed. I believe it can be applied to other contexts as well and is a wonderfully brilliant concept.
Something I learnt pertaining to the UK: There are three “sacred cows” for the British government – Health, Education and foreign aid.
Stay tuned for my posts on the 3 other sessions held that day.