Muria tribes’ own eco-friendly, foolproof seed preservation method

Internally displaced tribal families in the Godavari Valley persist in employing the ancestral ‘deda’ method to conserve seeds of pulses and food crops, inherited from their ancestors in Chhattisgarh.

Deda Method:

• Storage of seeds: The seeds are stored within leaves and tightly packed to resemble boulders when viewed from a distance.
• These packaged seeds are then encased in Siali leaf (Bauhinia vahlii), locally referred to as ‘addakulu’, to create the deda.
• Three-Layer Seed Preservation: Each deda consists of three layers. Initially, wood ash is scattered within the Siali leaves.
• Then, lemon leaves are used to encase the ash, forming a protective layer. Finally, the seeds are stored inside this casing and sealed.
• Each deda is designed to accommodate a minimum of 5kg of seeds.
• Advantages of Deda Method: The Deda method ensures that seeds are shielded from pests and worms, allowing them to be viable for cultivation for up to five years.
• This technique is particularly effective for preserving pulses such as green gram, red gram, black gram, and beans.

Muria Tribes:

• Geographical Location: Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha.
•  They communicate in Koya, a Dravidian language.
• Settlements: Muria settlements are recognized as homes to Internally Displaced People (IDPs), numbering approximately 6,600 in Andhra Pradesh.
• They are commonly referred to as ‘Gutti Koyas‘ by the indigenous tribes.
• Gutti Koyas were granted  Scheduled Tribes  Status in Chhattisgarh, But Not in Telangana.
• Muria Farming Practices : The Muria tribes engage in subsistence farming.
• Small-Scale Mixed Crop Farming: The Murias typically cultivate mixed crops on small-scale plots measuring below half an acre.
• Maize and pulses are their primary crops, with minimal reliance on paddy. Paddy cultivation employs the direct-sowing method.

Internally Displaced People (IDP):

• Internally Displaced People (IDP), as defined by the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, refer to individuals or groups compelled to flee their homes or habitual residences due to factors such as armed conflict, widespread violence, human rights abuses, natural disasters, or human-made calamities.
• These individuals have not crossed an internationally recognized border.

China has inaugurated the High Energy Photon Source (HEPS), which will be the first fourth-generation synchrotron light source in Asia.

Existing Synchrotrons: Presently there are around 70 synchrotrons across the world that are either in operation or under construction.

• The fourth-generation club: Fourth-generation facilities rely on an array of magnets called a multi-bend achromat lattice to generate X-ray beams that are narrower and therefore brighter. Existing facilities include,

1. Sweden’s MAX IV Laboratory,
2. Sirius in Campinas, Brazil,
3. The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility’s Extremely Brilliant Source in Grenoble, France.
4. The Advanced Photon Source in Lemont, Illinois.

High Energy Photon Source (HEPS):

• Location: It is situated 50 kilometers from Beijing in Huairou.
• Budget: It is a 4.8-billion-yuan (US$665-million) project.
• Objective: To  produce a light source that will  penetrate deep into samples to reveal their molecular and atomic structure in real time.
• Scope: Users can  select from the existing 14 beamlines for experiments in subjects including biomedicine, energy, advanced materials and condensed-matter physics.
• Also, HEPS is expected to accommodate up to 90 beamlines which will impact every scientific field, except maths going forward.

Feature:

• Produce Hard X Rays: HEPS will accelerate electrons up to energies of 6 gigaelectron volts inside its storage ring, with a circumference of 1.36 kilometres, to produce high-energy, or hard X-rays to measure samples at nanometre scales.
• Enabling Nano measurements: Its time resolution will be 10,000 times better than that achieved by third-generation synchrotrons allowing researchers to make measurements in hundreds of nanoseconds instead of milliseconds
• High Resolution Imaging:  HEPS’s electron beam will be the narrowest in the world, allowing it to create particularly intense X-rays enabling researchers to obtain more information from their samples with the same dose of radiation.
• It will further drive scientists’ understanding of the properties of matter and help in the development of new materials.
• Speedy experimentation: HEPS  will also allow researchers to rapidly execute experiments that would have  taken days to complete at older facilities.
• Example: To determine the atomic structure of proteins, researchers need to purify and coax these molecules into orderly crystal structures that can be visualized with X-rays. Older synchrotrons require large samples that are difficult to produce, making it nearly impossible to study smaller protein crystals

What is synchrotron light?

• It is a type of circular particle accelerator which works by accelerating charged particles (electrons) through sequences of magnets until they reach almost the speed of light.
• Formation of Synchrotron Light: These fast-moving high energy electrons produce very bright light, by the ‘synchronised’ application of strong magnetic fields called synchrotron light.
• This very intense light, predominantly in the X-ray region, is millions of times brighter than light produced from conventional sources and 10 billion times brighter than the sun.
• Significance: The intense light which is  produced by the electrons is then  filtered and adjusted to travel into experimental workstations, where it is used to study minute matter such as atoms and molecules and reveals the innermost secrets of materials, from human tissue to plants to metals and more.

Origin:

• It was built in 1946 and was designed to study collisions between high energy particles. Example: The Large Hadron Collider at CERN
• The First synchrotron Light experiment: In 1956, the first experiments were carried out using synchrotron light drawn from a particle collider at Cornell in the USA
• The First Dedicated facility: In 1980 UK built the world’s first synchrotron dedicated to producing synchrotron light for experiments at Daresbury in Cheshire.

Process:

• 1st step: The electrons are generated by the electron gun in the centre of the synchrotron and accelerated to 99.9997% of the speed of light by the linear accelerator, or linac.
• 2nd step: The electrons are then transferred to the booster ring, where in approx. half a second, there is an increase in energy from 100 MeV to 3,000 MeV (or 3 GeV). They are then transferred to the outer storage ring.
• Final step: The electrons are circulated around the storage ring by a series of magnets separated by straight sections. As the electrons are deflected through the magnetic field, electromagnetic radiation is produced.
• Final Synchrotron light: At each bending magnet a beam of synchrotron light is produced and the  electromagnetic radiation produced by the synchrotron is emitted in a narrow cone in the forward direction, at a tangent to the electron’s orbit.

Properties of Synchrotron light:

• High brightness: It is extremely intense (hundreds of thousands of times more intense than that from conventional x-ray tubes) and highly collimated.
• Wide energy spectrum: It can be generated across the range of the electromagnetic spectrum ie. from infrared to visible light to x-rays.
• Tunable: It is possible to obtain an intense beam of any selected wavelength.
• Highly polarised:  The synchrotron emits highly polarised radiation, which can be linear, circular or elliptical.
• Very short pulses: Pulses are  emitted in typically less than a nano-second (a billionth of a second), enabling time-resolved studies.

Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its updated Bacterial Priority Pathogens List (BPPL) 2024.

Bacterial Pathogens Priority List:

It is an important tool in the global fight against antimicrobial resistance.

Background

• In 2017, WHO developed the first BPPL to guide investment into the R&D of new antibacterials and it listed 13 bacterial pathogens (phenotypes).
• It was developed with the multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method (15).
• MCDA is a decision-making scientific method that mounts and evaluates alternatives based on multiple criteria, facilitating systematic and transparent decision-making in complex options
• The 2024 WHO BPPL covers 24 pathogens, spanning 15 families of antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens.
• The 2024 list categorizes these pathogens into critical, high, and medium priority groups to inform research and development (R&D) and public health interventions.

Significance

• The WHO BPPL acts as a guide for prioritizing R&D and investments in AMR, emphasizing the need for regionally tailored strategies to effectively combat resistance.
• It targets developers of antibacterial medicines, academic and public research institutions, research funders, and public–private partnerships investing in AMR R&D, as well as policy-makers responsible for developing and implementing AMR policies and programs.

What is Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)?

• It occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to medicines, making people sicker and increasing the risk of disease spread, illness and deaths.
• It is driven in large part by the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials

India’s first research testbed to study Nor’westers getting ready

• Though the Norwesters were less active this summer, there were occasional instances in April and early May.
• Strong winds and thunderstorms swept through the northern districts of West Bengal, Assam and Tripura, killing at least five people last month.

Research Testbed Facility to Study Norwesters:

• The proposed facility will cover a large area adjoining West Bengal, Odisha, and Jharkhand.
• The control centre will be at Chandbali in the Bhadrak district of Odisha, about 130 km east of Bhubaneswar.
• Development: India Meteorological Department (IMD), Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, and National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), Delhi, will jointly develop and use this facility.
• Minister of Earth Sciences, stated that the facility will be completed by 2026.
• Aim: It aims to study thunderstorms from the formation stage, growth, and propagation over eastern parts of the country.
• This will be done using meteorological instruments, drones, and other equipment that will aid in systematically tracking thunderstorms.
• IMD, Pune, will collate all the data generated from the testbed facility for further research and analysis.
• Complementing Existing Mechanisms: It will house several high-end instruments complementing the existing observational mechanisms.
• The eastern India region is currently covered by meteorological radars supported by a network of instruments to record upper air and surface observations.
• Significance: The large volumes of data generated from the facility are expected to help forecasters make timely thunderstorm predictions, issue nowcast warnings (an event in less than three hours), and ultimately save lives.
• This can help make better predictions and generate early warning mechanisms to save lives and property.
• Improved Lead Times for Extreme Weather Events: The IMD currently issues nowcast warnings for extreme weather events with a lead time of three hours.
• With the establishment of the first dedicated testbed for thunderstorms, the goal is to provide warnings with improved lead times and to map the areas likely to be most affected.
• This will give the administration and local communities more time to prepare and respond effectively.

Norwesters:

• Originating over east and northeast India, south Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, the norwesters are extremely severe thunderstorms accompanied by squally winds.
• These storms usually travel from northwest to southeast direction locally known as“Kalbaisakhi” and  “Barodoli Cheerha” in Assam.
• A squall is a sudden, sharp increase in wind speed lasting minutes, as opposed to a wind gust, which lasts for only seconds.
• Impact:  It brings destruction in terms of lightning, thunderstorms, hailstorms and rainfall. It is beneficial for pre-Kharif crops such as paddy, jute, and many other fruits and vegetables.
• Need for In-depth Study of Norwesters’ Genesis and Processes: Norwesters are severe thunderstorms that need further investigation with respect to its genesis at the micro level and other processes involved.

Other Local Storms of Hot Weather Season:

• Loo: Hot and dry winds blowing in the Northern plains.
• Mango Shower: Pre-monsoon showers towards the end of summer in Kerala and coastal areas of Karnataka that help in the early ripening of mangoes.
• Blossom Shower: It helps coffee flowers to blossom in Kerala and nearby areas.

Mechanism:

• Heating Induced Convection:  In the early summer months (March and April), the daytime landmass heating over these regions triggers convection over some areas of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and sub-Himalayan West Bengal.
• Interaction with Warm, Moist Air Masses Over the Bay of Bengal: As these convective clouds move towards West Bengal and Bangladesh, the norwesters mix with the warm, moist air mass persistent over the Bay of Bengal, causing significant wind discontinuity.
• Ideal Conditions for Thunderstorm Development: The local hills, thick forest cover, and the sea breeze make it ideal for developing thunderstorm cloud cells.
• These thunderstorm events usually prevail between two to four hours during late afternoon hours.