Yes, I demand more from the government. And my list of demands is growing. The biggest, fastest changeover that humanity has ever seen will occur over the next decade in the energy and mobility space. And the government has no choice but to be up to the task. For even before we know it, the conventional dirty renewable energy technologies are going to cause much damage.  

Read more: https://tinyurl.com/renewable-energy-not-clean

The government announced minimum support prices for the Rabi season for a range of crops with higher increases for pulses and oilseeds and the lowest for wheat – about 5 percent. This relatively lower price increase for wheat needs to be celebrated by all those who care about the environment and nutrition. Indians need greater pulses and oilseeds in their diets, wheat is being overproduced and over procured, and early sowing of wheat contributes to rice straw-stubble burning in October. 

But all this would be even better if the government also puts in place an elaborate mechanism for educating, skilling, and facilitating the farmers to move away from HYV type farming towards more environmentally methods of farming. An extension system is critically needed for India to quickly make the shift and also address climate change challenges.

Large parts of Deccan, Rajasthan, and Gujarat consist of drylands, which have become highly degraded significantly due to a range of reasons including ‘over-cultivation, overgrazing, deforestation, poor irrigation, and rising temperatures.‘ 

But unlike well-irrigated lands, dry lands require light-touch interventions. Agriculture needs to be done only for a few months, the risk of crop failure is high, using fertilizers, etc has limited utility. More importantly, drylands also sequester carbon significantly. Significantly, most drylands are either community-owned or maintained by the community. With increasing temperatures, the poor communities maintaining such lands will need more than just financial support.

Jowar, bajra, ragi are millets that were staples in India for many millennia before HYV seeds and government subsidies to wheat and rice turned the table against them. In parallel despite rising incomes, nutritional outcomes have not improved in India for some time now. 

Millets, the poor man’s cereal, and traditional staple are richer in micronutrients than wheat and rice. And of course, they also consume less environmentally harmful agrichemicals. The problem however is that even if we want to switch to the superior cereals, tastes have since changed and now reverting back to them is difficult. Enter this innovative chef who is coming up with millet-based cakes, bread, and pastries.

Reports are gaining momentum that the government is considering a $3.5 billion subsidy to the Indian automobile sector to ramp up electric vehicle production and exports. This is not a good economic policy from many different angles. 

First, why subsidise an industry that services the relatively better off, and provides employment to few for the subsidy required? Second, why not simply tax fossil-based vehicles more so automatically the shift to electric is accelerated? And finally, electric vehicles will run predominately on dirty coal-based power. Instead, why not spend the $3.5 bill to clean up coal power plants? This is classic Nehru-Indira economic policy and we would do well to stay away from such support to the industry.