02 Jan 2023 : The Indian Express

Editorial 1: The path to decarbonization

Context:  Recent world events such as Covid-19 pandemic – which lead to disruption of Supply chain Ukraine Russia conflict led to rise in coal based energy price which put threat to energy security of those nations which depend on carbon based energy.

How is/will Russia-Ukraine conflict will impact carbon-based fuel price globally

• The international energy market has been convulsed by the Ukraine conflict.
•  Four factors in particular mark this convulsion.
  • One, the energy market has fragmented and energy nationalism is the driving force behind policy.
  • Two, a second iron curtain has come down. Irrespective of how and when the Ukraine conflict ends, Russia will not be allowed access to the western markets for as long as President Putin is at the helm of the affairs. 
  •  Three, OPEC plus one which is, in effect, Saudi Arabia plus Russia has stepped outside the Western orbit. Saudi Arabia has made clear it intends to pursue a “Saudi first”, non-aligned approach to international relations including with the US.
  • And four, new centres of energy power are emergent around countries that have a large share of the metals, minerals and components required for clean energy. China is currently the dominant power

How, such events are affecting the India’s energy policy:

• It is against this international backdrop that India must pivot the needle of its energy compass towards short-term energy security and long-term decarbonization
• In order to handle such hurdles government should take certain measures such as
  • To secure such a cover, government must increase the productivity of our existing producing fields;
  • additional resources should be allocated for accessing relevant enhanced oil recovery technologies. 
  • Further, it should leverage the country’s market potential to secure a long-term supply relationship with Saudi Arabia and an equity partnership with Iran.
  •  It should enhance the strategic petroleum reserves to cover at least 30 days of consumption and remove the sword of Damocles that the CBI/CVC/CAG wield over the heads of the public sector petroleum companies so that their traders can, without fear
  • The construction of a pan-India national gas pipeline grid should be expedited.

However, phasing out coal-based energy slowly:

• Coal will remain in central position in India’s energy system for decades.
• It is no doubt the dirtiest of fuels, but it remains amongst, if not the cheapest, source of energy. Plus, hundreds of thousands depend on the coal ecosystem for their livelihood.
• The option of phasing out coal whilst environmentally compelling is not yet a macroeconomic or social possibility. In the interim, the government has to find an energy transition route that balances livelihoods and pushes forward the green agenda
•  Some small, politically feasible steps in that direction would include
  •  Increasing R&D expenditure for coal gasification and carbon capture and sequestration technologies;
  •  setting a carbon tax;
  • the establishment of regulatory and monitoring mechanisms for measuring carbon emissions from industry;
  • the closure of inefficient and old plants and a decision not to approve any new ones.
  •  In parallel, it would help if Niti Aayog were to pull together a group of economists and energy experts to determine the competitiveness of coal versus solar on a full-cost basis.

Increasing the demand side efficiency for better utilisation of resources(Energy security):

• Energy security cannot be achieved by focusing only on the supply and distribution side of the equation. The demand conservation and efficiency side is equally important.
•  It is the cheapest, easiest and quickest way to reduce dependence on external sources.
•  Europe will save 10 bcm of gas annually by simply adjusting their thermostats downwards by 1-degree centigrade.
• The government has conceptualised several demand management measures, but these have not been rigorously implemented. So a priority for 2023 should be to fill this lacuna.

Three other measures should be brought onto this year’s policy agenda for Decarbonisation

• •  First, allocation of funds for upgradation of the transmission grid network to render it resilient enough to absorb “clean” electrons on an intermittent basis.
    • The sun does not shine at night and the wind does not blow all the time. In parallel, the underlying structural issues currently impeding the scaling up of renewables must be addressed.
    •  Amongst them, the repair of the balance sheets of state distribution companies (discoms), easing the procedures for the acquisition of land and the removal of regulatory and contract uncertainties are most important.
    • Failure to sort out the finances of discoms will erode confidence in the sanctity of the Power Purchasing Agreements (PAAs) signed between them and renewable companies.
  • Second, Developing and commercialising third-generation clean energy:
    •  In addition of the arrow of mineral and chip diplomacy to the quiver of Indian diplomats. It will take decades to harness our indigenous resources of the metals and minerals critical for clean energy and build up a domestic chip industry.
    • In the interim, diplomats should secure diversified sources of supply to reduce the country’s vulnerability.
  • Diversifying the source of renewable energy: Finally, the creation of an enabling ecosystem for developing and commercialising third-generation clean energy technologies like hydrogen, biofuels and modular nuclear reactors. Nuclear, in particular, should be pushed

Conclusion:

• India is not responsible for global warming, but it will be amongst the worst affected.
• Millions live around its coastline. Their livelihoods will be undermined by rising sea levels. Millions will also be affected by melting glaciers and extremes of temperatures.
• So irrespective of who is to blame, India has to stay on the path of decarbonisation. It cannot afford to develop first and clean up later.

Editorial 2: The International Year of Millets: how India’s govt can promote the cereals in 2023

Context:

• The United Nations has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets. Since that was at the initiative of India, which also accounts for a fifth of the world’s millets production,
• The government can take certain initiatives to promote  “nutri-cereals” — going beyond just spreading awareness, or organising “special millets lunch” for parliamentarians and journalists.

The positives of millets (nutritious and Health benefit)

• Millets score over rice and wheat in terms of minerals, vitamins, and dietary fibre content, as well as amino acid profile.
  • Polished/ white rice, for instance, contains only 2-4 mg/ kg iron and 15-16 mg/ kg zinc. Wheat has more of both — iron (37-39 mg/ kg) and zinc (40-42 mg/ kg)  but its protein quality is poorer than even that of rice.
  • Up to 80% of wheat’s average 13% protein content comprises glutens, known to trigger gastrointestinal and autoimmune disorders in many people.
  • Bajra (pearl millet), on the other hand, has iron, zinc, and protein levels comparable to that of wheat, but it’s gluten-free and has more fibre. The rotis from bajra makes one feel fuller for longer, as they take more time to digest and do not raise blood sugar levels too fast.
• The same nutritionally superior traits — which significantly address the problem of “hidden hunger” arising from the consumption of energy-dense but micronutrients-deficient foods  which are present in other millets too: jowar (sorghum), ragi (finger millet), kodo (kodo millet), kutki (little millet), kakun (foxtail millet), sanwa (barnyard millet), cheena (proso millet), kuttu (buckwheat) and chaulai (amaranth).
• Nutritional advantages apart, millets are hardy and drought-resistant crops. This has to do with their short duration (70-100 days, against 115-150 days for rice and wheat), lower water requirement (350-500 mm versus 600-1,250 mm) and ability to grow even on poor soils and in hilly terrain.

Where millets lag

• Millets have been reduced to “orphan crops” over the years, planted largely in marginal areas prone to moisture stress.
• Between 2003-04 and 2021-22, India’s millet output has actually fallen from 21.32 million tonnes (mt) to 15.92 mt.
• Almost 98% of it is just three cereals — bajra (down from 12.11 mt to 9.62 mt), jowar (6.68 mt to 4.23 mt) and ragi (1.97 mt to 1.70 mt) — with small millets accounting for the rest (0.56 mt to 0.37 mt).

• However, millets aren’t the first choice either of consumers or of farmers.
• For the poor, both in urban and rural areas, rice and wheat were once aspirational foods.
• And under the Green Revolution and the National Food Security Act of 2013, two-thirds of India’s population receives up to 5 kg of wheat or rice per person per month at Rs 2 and Rs 3/kg respectively.
  • Covering mainly rice and wheat crops lead to distortion of  millet crops.
• Even for the better-off, rolling rotis is easier with wheat than millet flour. This is because the gluten proteins, for all their drawbacks, make the wheat dough more cohesive and elastic.
• Low yield/Hectare: For farmers, low per-hectare yields. the national average is roughly 1 tonne for jowar, 1.5 tonnes for bajra and 1.7 tonnes for ragi, as against 3.5 tonnes for wheat and 4 tonnes for paddy are a disincentive. With access to assured irrigation, they would tend to switch to rice, wheat, sugarcane, or cotton.
  • Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) has bred Pusa-1201, a hybrid bajra that gives an average grain yield of over 2.8 tonnes and potential of 4.5 tonnes per hectare.
  •  It matures in 78-80 days and is resistant to downy mildew and blast, both deadly fungal diseases. The grains have 13-14% protein, 55 mg/ kg iron (normal level is 50 mg/ kg) and 48 mg/ kg zinc (normal: 35 mg/ kg
• Lower MSP compare to what and paddy:
  • Absence of government procurement at minimum support price (MSP), unlike in paddy and wheat, would make farmers hesitant to grow even this high-yielding and naturally bio-fortified bajra, suitable for both post-monsoon kharif and summer.

Apart from Awarding the people about the nutritious and health advantages of millets, the following Steps need to be taken to increase the production of Millets:

• The solution in schools and Aganwadi centres:
  • according to the latest official data for 2021-22, has 26.52 crore children enrolled in 14.89 lakh schools from the pre-primary to higher secondary levels. In addition, 7.71 crore children and 1.80 crore pregnant & lactating women are being provided supplementary nutrition in 13.91 lakh anganwadi care centres
  • This is potentially a huge “market” for millets. There is need to alleviate micronutrient malnutrition — especially iron and zinc deficiency that are major causes of anaemia and stunting respectively, while also contributing to impaired cognitive performance and vulnerability to diarrhoea — millets could be made a staple part of children’s diets.
• The Centre has two existing schemes — Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman and Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0 — with a combined budget of Rs 30,496.82 crore in 2022-23. These can be better leveraged by making them more millets-focused
• The public distribution system (PDS) can continue supplying rice and wheat that are better suited for large-scale nationwide procurement, movement, stocking, and marketing. MSP procurement of millets should be part of a decentralised nutritional programme specifically targeting tomorrow’s citizens.
• Besides midday meals, millets could be served in the form of ready-to-eat foods such as cookies, laddu, murukku, nutrition bars, and extruded snacks (think healthier versions of Maggi, Kurkure, or Cheetos).

Way forward:

• The Centre could fund any state willing to procure millets specific to their region exclusively for distribution through schools and anganwadis.
•  Odisha already has a dedicated millets mission that undertook procurement of 32,302 tonnes worth Rs 109.08 crore, mainly of ragi, in 2021-22. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana might want to do the same in bajra, just as Maharashtra may for jowar, Karnataka for ragi and Madhya Pradesh for kodo/ kutki.
• They can, of course, add milk and eggs. Some are already doing it: Karnataka and Gujarat in milk and Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha for eggs.
• Government needs to further intensify the  public awareness campaign to encourage people to adopt millet as a part of their diet that which help in reducing the malnutrition and hidden hunger of nation along with enhancing the income of farmers.