The Himalayan Snow Crisis is Killing a Sacred Red Rice

It is common knowledge that rice cultivation is dependent on timely monsoons. But did you know of a red rice variety that needs a good snowfall to thrive? In 2017, the Uttarakhand High Court had ruled that the river Yamuna had the same legal rights as a human being. Today, this river, a lifeline in the north of India, is struggling to sustain itself with steadily depleting water levels. Up in the terraced fields of Purola and Barkot in Uttarakhand, the river is no longer keeping its appointments. Winter after winter, the snow has stopped falling the way it used to. The glaciers are quietly stepping back. The streams that once raced down to the fields in April and May, the precise weeks Uttarakhand's heritage red rice- the Lal Chawal- takes its first drink, are arriving late, sometimes scantily, or not at all. The cruelty is in the timing. Two years ago, the lal chawal was awarded a Geographical Indication tag. Farmers who had earned ₹30 a kilo for years suddenly began earning ₹130. The future, briefly, looked promising. Then the water disappeared. Now, yields are down. Pests are up. And in fields farmed organically for as long as anyone can remember, farmers are now reaching, reluctantly, for chemicals. The irony is devastating. A river worshipped and granted the rights of a citizen, is dying quietly in the very state that protects her on paper. #yamunariver #uttarakhand #goodfoodmovement