Features
Cattle farmers revive traditional herbal remedies
Farmers in Tamil Nadu are switching to traditional remedies for cattle because ethno-veterinary medicine made with locally available herbs are more effective in controlling diseases at minimal cost
Bhunjia women need better care after childbirth
Women of Odisha’s forest-dwelling tribes face a greater health risk because of their preference for childbirth at home. Counseling by health workers is now slowly helping new mothers get better postnatal care
Vasai volunteers recharge ponds to raise water table
Volunteers in the villages of Vasai-Virar have revived traditional water ponds that were originally dug for irrigation. It has resulted in recharged aquifers and increased water availability for farming
Kerala’s cash crops face the heat of climate change
Coffee and pepper farmers in Wayanad are suffering losses caused by a rise in local temperatures and increasingly erratic rainfall in a district whose residents once boasted of its air-conditioned climate
Community bathrooms help women bathe in privacy
For most women in Bengal’s villages, a bath is a hurried dip in ponds while fully clothed to avoid the unwelcome male gaze. Community bathrooms enable them bathe in private and maintain better hygiene
Kerala volunteers improve life of mental health patients
A volunteer-driven community initiative offers professional diagnosis and free mental health treatment to patients from marginalized sections in rural Kerala, and helps them to return to normalcy
Bengal’s weavers revive muslin, spin success
The revival of muslin, a fine cotton cloth famous for centuries, has infused financial stability into the lives of traditional spinners and weavers of West Bengal who were struggling for survival earlier
Cooking in iron kadhais combats anemia in Jharkhand
A women's collective movement of cooking in iron kadhais (woks) that helps in reducing the incidence of anemia in rural women is gathering pace in many parts of Jharkhand
Recurrent floods traumatize people in rural Kerala
Even as Kerala reels under yet another flood due to extreme rainfall, people in the tiny village of Upputhode in the Western Ghats are still traumatized from the loss they suffered in last year’s deluge
Farmers across India revive folk rice varieties
Cultivation of traditional rice varieties is becoming popular in Chhattisgarh, after a campaign to popularize indigenous paddy strains spreads from Kerala to Himachal Pradesh to West Bengal
Coastal communities in Tamil Nadu prepare for disasters
Fishing communities living on the Bay of Bengal coast in Tamil Nadu, who are vulnerable to extreme weather events, are being trained by the Tamil Nadu government to prepare for disasters
Community farming in Goa stops land conversion
Many villagers in Goa have banded together to revive rice cultivation through collective mechanized sowing and transplanting. The success in several villages has now become a catalyst for others
Talcher villages suffer from industrial waste
With coal industries and washeries polluting land and water, and adversely affecting health, people around Talcher’s industrial hub hope for better administrative support in effluent management
Collective enterprise fights malnutrition with millets
A collective enterprise in coastal Andhra Pradesh is contributing towards better nutrition of women and children in tribal areas by producing millet biscuits, while also providing stable rural livelihoods
Date palms make profitable entrance in Solapur
With climatic conditions similar to that of date-growing Kutch, Solapur farmers have started cultivating date palms, finding the extended growth period worth the wait financially
Why Dongria Kondh women prefer childbirth at home
Lack of easy access to government healthcare in Kalyansinghpur, in addition to cultural and dietary differences in hospitals, is forcing Dongria Kondh women in remote villages to opt out of institutional delivery
Village girls shed fear and shame about menstruation
Through a health initiative that demystifies menstruation by using games and stories, schoolgirls in rural Jharkhand are learning about menstrual health and the importance of nutrition
Community-based care improves lives of rural elderly
A collaborative initiative in Maharashtra boosts the physical and mental well-being of senior citizens living in rural areas, while also providing a platform for interaction and improving positivity
Maize loses sheen for Bihar’s farmers
Seemanchal farmers, who switched from wheat and jute to water-friendly maize, are earning less despite high demand and good yield, and look to the government to intervene
It’s raining sand in Rayalaseema
Changes in crop patterns, waning forest cover, an explosion of borewells and the death of a river have produced dramatic effects on land, air, water and forests in Rayalaseema