Hindustan Times – Online

Increasing spells of summer heatwave in northwestern India, thought to be linked to climate change, are hurting milk productivity, or output per cattle, while raising costs of production for farmers, a study by the flagship National Dairy Research Institute has found, highlighting the vulnerability of the country’s agriculture sector to extreme weather. Climate scientists have warned that scorching heatwaves in India, among other extreme weather events, are certainly being driven by global warming, posing a risk to food output. Milk productivity in the world’s largest producer has also been on a decreasing trend during summers due to heat stress, the recent study found. The study found that each unit increase in the temperature humidity index ...

Scroll.in – Online

Amid growing calls to “reboot food” and shift to plant-based and lab-grown diets, world leaders failed to address the climate and livestock debate at COP27 – the United Nations 27th Climate Conference held in Egypt from November 6-20. Mainstream narratives villainise livestock, especially cattle, as a major cause of climate change with some experts calling it the single-biggest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions from livestock are egregiously equated to emissions from fuel-based transport despite the different parameters through which these statistics are derived and their different effects. This has serious implications for India, given the scale of its livestock sector. India holds the world’s largest cattle herd and is the biggest milk ...