Ashadi Beej, the Kutchi new year, marks the beginning of monsoon in the Kachchh region of Gujarat. The festival, which falls at the end of June, also signals a break…
An initiative introducing energy-efficient kilns to traditional potters in Kachchh, Gujarat, reduces firing time and firewood requirement, addressing concerns of energy-intensive pottery-making while benefiting both artisans and the environment. Pottery…
Previous research has examined the impact of invasive plant species on the diversity, population dynamics and richness of native woody species and its impact on wildlife and ecosystems. However, a recent study…
Sajida Sheikh’s job is to stitch wads of raw fabric that come for dyeing at Gujarat ECO Textile Park, a textile cluster at Palsana, in Gujarat’s Surat district. For 17…
The second part of this two-part series looks at how the expanding salt works are killing small fisheries in Gujarat’s Little Rann of Kutch. The first of the two-part series…
The first of the two-part series looks at the practice of ginger prawn fishing and its significance in the biodiversity hotspot of the Little Rann of Kutch. The second part…
Over a year after the initiation of India's ambitious cheetah reintroduction project, the central government is now in the planning stages for establishing a cheetah breeding and conservation centre in…
Certain species of elasmobranch, such as sharks, are among the most overfished species in the Indian seas. A new survey documenting their consumption in India suggests one group of stakeholders,…
At a cheese-tasting event in Chennai recently, one of the cheese varieties on display was marinated feta from fresh goat milk. It was made in a small cheese-making unit in…
Tejal Makwana is packing her bags for the annual sojourn to the salt desert. After the Dussehra festival, she and her husband Danabhai Makwana will rent a tractor, load it…
“It is just like a human being,” said Mahipatsinh Sodha, a farmer from Gujarat’s Kachchh district, about guggal, a native plant species in the region, which the International Union for…
In the village Tuna that lies by the sea in Kachchh, Gujarat, Razak bhai sat watching the rain clouds gather in the sky. Razak bhai is a potter and one…
In a report released last month, the Global Wind Energy Council said India was among the “markets to watch” in the offshore wind energy sector, stating that the country has…
It was a long day here, in Kachchh, when we were out in search of Gujarat’s indigenous breed of sheep, the Patanwadi. There are less than 5,000 sheep of this…
The memory came alive as I sat down to transcribe the recordings from the field. All I could hear was “pach-pach” and “sha-sha” behind my own heavy breathing from walking.…
A streak of blue cuts across the yellow landscape as one takes a turn while travelling through the Mehsana district of Gujarat. The dry smell of dust alerts one about…
The swamp seemed never-ending. Only crabs gave me company as I plodded knee-deep in the marsh. The voice of my field guide, only 10 feet ahead, was muffled by the…
Salim Patel is a 43-year old cotton farmer based in Tralsa, a village in Vagra taluka of Gujarat’s Bharuch district. Patel has been farming for over sixteen years. He owns…
What can shells tells us about marine paleoclimate? It is essential to collect fresh paleoclimatic data based on past analogues to understand the current climate change. Shells and molluscs store…
At noon, on a hot March day, in the flat semi-arid plains of Kachchh, a lone figure stood on a slight rise, fiddling with the controller of a drone that…