Biodiversity and Sashi Tharoor

(Unrelated — or are they?  This is where my PhD seems to be heading now….)
Rattan plants facing extinction in the Western Ghats
Sashi Tharoor wants more organic farming in Kerala

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Chief Minister: encourage organic farming in the State

From the Hindu:
Encourage organic farming, says V.S. Achuthanandan…this will save the soil from negative impacts

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In honor of World Food Day, two stories from the Hindu

Protests against genetically modified eggplant (bt brinjal).
Kerala’s Chief Minister reasserts his position against GMOs
And, randomly: the most expensive Malayalam film hits theaters today. Worth the money?

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The rains have finally come

Which is good, but Kerala is paying for it. As for myself, I’m in Ernakalum (staying in beautiful Fort Kochi), trying to introduce myself to the community of people involved with organic agriculture here. The non-stop heavy rain has made bus rides and walking pretty unpleasant, though (although I cannot complain about the [...]

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Not comforting….

I still haven’t mastered the art of walking in/crossing the street gracefully here. But this is not comforting to wake up and read:

(from the Hindu)

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Organic mango festival!

I had meant to post this earlier.
Organic Mango Fest
Unfortunately, I think I reach Kerala just as the mango and jackfruit seasons end.

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Organic news from Kerala

From the Hindu: Tribal communities continue to export organic pepper (grown in reserves) to Germany
(Some more background from other news articles: Apparently this scheme was set up to help members of these communities battle things like bad debt. A parallel eco-tourism scheme, aimed to attract well-off people to the Periyar Tiger Reserve, is also in [...]

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Organic news from the Hindu

Switch to GM crops cost South African farmers dear. Some visited the State for organic lessons.

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