The latest batch of “What’s for Lunch” stories on PRI’s The World highlight farming methods that don’t bust the global carbon budget. On July 25, Sam Eaton reported from northeastern India on the System of …
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The Homelands Blog
“What’s for Lunch” takes a global tour of the future of food
Keep your ears open for a new batch of What’s for Lunch radio stories about food and climate change on PRI’s The World. The series, part of the Food for 9 Billion project that Homelands Productions is producing with the Center for …
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Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Farmers in India Find Promise in Ancient Seeds
Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Farmers in India Find Promise in Ancient Seeds
In India, climate change is forcing farmers to adapt to saltwater intrusion, flooding, and droughts. Scientists are racing to breed a new generation of climate-resilient crops that can survive these changes. But many farmers are turning to the seeds that sustained their ancestors.
Researcher Debal Deb has been collecting traditional seed varieties and testing them with farmers in northeastern India. He says some of the ancient rice plants will survive in 12 feet of water for up to three months. Scientists at the International Rice Research Institute and elsewhere are trying to breed traits like this into modern, high-yielding varieties. Photo by Sam Eaton. When a cyclone hits India, the sea-drenched soil can remain salty for years. You can see the evidence in the Ganges River delta, packed with more than 4 million people, four years after Cyclone Aila hit the region.
Farmers are finding that new high-yielding rice varieties are not withstanding the salty onslaught. Vegetables are also nearly impossible to grow.
The problem is expected to get worse as climate change brings higher sea levels, stronger storms, and more frequent droughts.
Scientists are racing to breed a new generation of climate-resilient crops that can survive these changes. But many farmers are turning to the seeds that sustained their ancestors.
This story was produced by The Center for Investigative Reporting.
Producer, Reporter, Camera: Sam Eaton
Editor: Linda Peckham
Additional Editing: Adithya Sambamurthy
Transcription: Karishma Suri
Archival Footage: Oxfam International
Thanks to: Soma Saha, WWF-India Sundarbans Program
Senior Producer: Stephen Talbot
Executive Producer: Sharon Tiller -
The Homelands Blog
“Food for 9 Billion” reaching millions on air and online
We wanted to catch you up on the “Food for 9 Billion” project, which has been taking most of our attention lately. As loyal readers will know, Ff9B asks what has to happen for the …
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The Homelands Blog
New stories from Brazil and India
It’s been more than a month since I posted anything on the Homelands blog! Too busy producing and planning “Food for 9 Billion” stories. Yesterday, a feature I reported in India aired on Marketplace. It …
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Jonathan Miller
Food for 9 Billion
Water Man
Jonathan Miller
Food for 9 Billion
Water Man
Fast-growing India is pumping its aquifers dry. Rajendra Singh says solutions will come from the ground up.
The average person drinks two quarts of water every day, but it takes more than a thousand times that to produce a day’s worth of food. That’s a problem everywhere, but especially in India, where scientists say nearly a third of the country’s underground aquifers are already in critical condition.
Rajendra Singh has become known as “The Water Man” for his efforts to engage communities in grassroots conservation efforts. Among his accomplishments: Seven dry rivers in his home district are flowing year-round again.
Rajendra Singh at the headquarters of the organization he directs, Tarun Bharat Sangh (Indian Youth Association). Since the 1980s, the group has focused on community-based water management.Photo: Jonathan MillerSingh at the first water harvesting structure he built in the Alwar District of Rajasthan state.Photo: Jonathan MillerA cloth map shows the locations of water harvesting structures in Alwar. Singh says there are now more than 10,000 structures in the area, all built by hand by community members.Photo: Jonathan MillerThe most common type of water harvesting structure in Alwar is a “check dam,” known locally as a johad. Different types of structures are used in other places.Photo: Jonathan MillerVillagers move rocks for a new johad. Water harvesting goes back hundreds of years, but was largely abandoned with the arrival of tube wells and electric pumps.Photo: Jonathan MillerHarshaye, 65, says he is confident that this area will be green and productive by next year.Photo: Jonathan MillerSingh now spends most of his time on national and regional water policy issues. He says the Indian government is beginning to see the value of grassroots water management.Photo: Jonathan MillerAn employee of Singh’s nonprofit leads a field trip for university students from the central Indian city of Bhopal. Rainwater harvesting is enjoying a resurgence, but groundwater withdrawals still far outpace deposits.Photo: Jonathan MillerIn Lapuria village in central Rajasthan, local leader Laxman Singh (right) listens as villager Chhotu describes his work planting trees. Singh says water conservation has revitalized the village.Photo: Jonathan MillerA girl draws drinking water from a well in Lapuria. The water table had dropped to more than 200 feet below the surface. Now it is 20 to 30 feet down, thanks to a range of conservation measures.Photo: Jonathan Miller -
The Homelands Blog
Ff9B sneak preview
Happy New Year! I’m just back from South Asia, where I looked at grassroots efforts to prepare for climate change in Bangladesh and avert a water crisis in India. These are for future stories in …
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Sandy Tolan
World Views
The Poet and the Rickshaw Driver
Sandy Tolan
World Views
The Poet and the Rickshaw Driver
An Indian poet, Gagan Gill, describes her encounter with a homeless rickshaw driver on the streets of Delhi.
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Sandy Tolan
Searching for Solutions
Miracle Farmer
Sandy Tolan
Searching for Solutions
Miracle Farmer
In India, where signs of faith are everywhere, a deeply spiritual farmer has found a way to grow abundant supplies of rice without the use of harmful chemicals.
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Cecilia Vaisman, Nancy Postero
Searching for Solutions
Women’s Empowerment in India
Cecilia Vaisman, Nancy Postero
Searching for Solutions
Women’s Empowerment in India
The cultural, religious, and social realities that stand in the way of lowering fertility rates in India are apparent in the tiny farming villages where one women’s group is trying to bring about change.
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Sandy Tolan
Searching for Solutions
India Food and Global Trade
Sandy Tolan
Searching for Solutions
India Food and Global Trade
Indians have long considered “food security” to be a national priority. Now, dependence on the global economy sends India on an uncertain and, some say, dangerous course.
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Cecilia Vaisman, Nancy Postero
Searching for Solutions
Norplant
Cecilia Vaisman, Nancy Postero
Searching for Solutions
Norplant
In India and Brazil, population control advocates have come into conflict with feminists over the contraceptive drug Norplant, considered by some to be among the most effective birth control methods available.
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Cecilia Vaisman, Nancy Postero
Searching for Solutions
Family Planning in India
Cecilia Vaisman, Nancy Postero
Searching for Solutions
Family Planning in India
With funding from USAID, Indian health officials have launched a massive new family planning effort in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most densely populated state.
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Sandy Tolan
Searching for Solutions
Food for a Billion Indians
Sandy Tolan
Searching for Solutions
Food for a Billion Indians
It’s growing increasingly difficult for food production to keep pace with population growth. In India, failure could spell disaster.