Planetary Health in Punjab

Authors

  • Navi Goraya McMaster University

Abstract

This piece depicts Punjab, India before and after the Green Revolution of the 1960s. The Green Revolution was a transition in Indian agricultural practices from traditional farming methods to the use of high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds (1). It was also thus a transition from sustainable farming of genetically diverse crops, to monocultures requiring large amounts of pesticides, fertilizers, and water to maintain (1). These practices have proven unsustainable over time and the tenets of the Green Revolution were widely debated during the Indian Farmers Protest (2019-2021) (2). Soil degradation, groundwater depletion, and pesticide overuse, as well as resulting physical and mental health disorders are major issues facing Punjab’s farmers today (2). This points to the importance of incorporating a planetary heath perspective into global health initiatives, and the inextricable link between human health and the health of the Earth itself (3)

References

  1. Eliazer Nelson ARL, Ravichandran K, Antony U. The impact of the Green Revolution on indigenous crops of India. J Ethn Foods. 2019 Oct 1;6(1):8.
  2. Aga A. Farm Protests in India Are Writing the Green Revolution’s Obituary [Internet]. Scientific American. 2021 [cited 2021 Jan 30]. Available from: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/farm-protests-in-india-are-writing-the-green-revolutions-obituary/
  3. 3. Whitmee S, Haines A, Beyrer C, Boltz F, Capon AG, de Souza Dias BF, et al. Safeguarding human health in the Anthropocene epoch: report of The Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on planetary health. The Lancet. 2015 Nov;386(10007):1973–2028.

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Published

2022-10-25

How to Cite

Goraya, N. (2022). Planetary Health in Punjab. Global Health: Annual Review, 1(7). Retrieved from https://journals.mcmaster.ca/ghar/article/view/3087