As illegal immigration only of the human variety? The question popped up as I read of a threat to Assam’s riverine grassland in the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park. The state now faces an influx of plant species that are hurting local ecologies, like unwanted human intruders being blamed for the ills of local economies.
As if the Brahmaputra floods and increasing human encroachment were not enough, the sensitive habitat that is home to feral horses is under threat from invasive species, according to a recent article in the Earth journal. The threats include the weed Parthenium hysterophorous and Mikania micrantha, a fast-creeping vine. On a single day this month, Assam’s forest officials cleared more than 5 acres of harmful weeds, including ‘Congress grass’ (an intriguing moniker for Parthenium hysterophorous) in Morigaon district.
The names sound creepy enough. But my purpose here is to show it is time for botanists, environmentalists and agriculturists—not to speak of policymakers, economists and administrators—to think anew on how to turn environmental threats into social or economic opportunities. Down south in Kerala, h for hyacinth also spells harmful. Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is common across India and is a green pest of sorts. But it’s ubiquitous in the waters of god’s own country. To the lay observer, the plant’s green carpets across ponds and canals may look beautiful; but in an environmental sense, they are not.
In the Kuttanad lowland near Alappuzha, they are called the silent invaders of backwaters, thriving on man-made pollution. These infiltrators obstruct fishermen, choke irrigation channels and pose health challenges as mosquitoes breed easily in their company. The species, estimated to cover more than three-fourths of the area’s water surfaces, may well inspire Malayalam filmmakers as a controversial metaphor for illegal immigrants.
But, like immigrants across the world, it depends on how you look at it. It turns out that some migrant species, like the entrepreneurial people who move to America, can create value and help the local economy. If you consider that scientists are discovering new plant species that deserve the attention of policymakers as well as farmers, we may be looking at new-age economics. That would be a reverse swing in reshaping the economy.
Scientists from Pune’s Symbiosis University won a climate action challenge set up by the Elsevier Foundation in the Netherlands this year for their idea to convert water hyacinths into menstrual hygiene products. The $25,000 award is not a small amount for young scientists. A green startup founded by a couple of young men from Assam turned water hyacinths into eco-friendly handmade paper. The government has also reported other such green product initiatives using water hyacinth under the Swachh Bharat mission.
In a deeper leap, a study at Bengaluru’s Indian Institute of Science into the nuances of agricultural growth has dug up a natural switch that could break down DELLA, a protein that inhibits plant growth. Such a scientific move led to high-yielding varieties of crops like wheat during the Green Revolution. In a world where botany meets artificial intelligence, we should be looking at more farmer-environmentalist-scientist collaborations.
Some years ago, a study in Assam revealed that among 18 invasive plants stifling the Kaziranga National Park was a vitamin-D-rich weed that wild boars loved to eat. It makes me wonder if this is another case of positive outcomes from seemingly negative weeds. There is a case to revamp India’s anti-poverty programmes and panchayat raj practices to include labour-intensive cleaning up of habitats, including wastelands, wetlands, and grasslands, to remove weeds and boost afforestation. The late environmentalist Anil Agarwal, who co-founded the Centre for Science and Environment, had argued for afforestation-linked poverty-alleviation programmes decades ago.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has faced considerable criticism on its feeble efforts to create assets such as check dams, ponds, irrigation canals and tree cover. There is a clear opportunity to strengthen the programme by including environmental clean-ups and cultivation of village commons. This, of course, would need a revamp of the lacklustre panchayati raj system. If a government can build highways, why can’t it build assets that strengthen the environment, which I call the ‘original infrastructure’?
What is missing here is the demand-supply loop that builds any economic activity on a large scale. Most environmental habitats fall in the common or public sphere, which means they are nobody’s property except of encroachers and well-intentioned government officials. What we need are clearer definitions and activities that bring private sector efficiency to places like grasslands and canals. Strangely enough, environmentalists tend to use the word ‘community’ in such initiatives, not realising that it is only commercialised economics that puts energy and scale into such activity. There is not much that volunteers or pilot projects can do.
Compared to manufacturing and other modern industries, there is a much weaker linkage between research, economics, and public policy in environment-related initiatives, though science and technology are showing us new frontiers. This is where we could do with clearer policy initiatives that bring farmers and environmentalists on the same page.
Madhavan Narayanan | Reverse Swing
(Views are personal)
(On X @madversity)