Despite being a valuable source of protein for significant proportion of people in India whose diets are vegetarian and cereal-based, pulses have not been given its due importance and not promoted on the scale as other cash crops.

Pulses also offer several environmental benefits such as harbouring bacteria that naturally fix atmospheric nitrogen besides keeping the soil porous and aerated through their extensive root systems.

Though there have been a slew of reasons for farmers going after high- yielding crops, price certainty and high Minimum Support Price (MSP) are the the major drivers. Termed as “orphan crops” owing to their being mostly grown in marginal lands vulnerable to moisture stress, pulses need state patronage for its transition from a crop of last resort to a commercial crop.

Concerted measures such as assured MSP, a stable import policy and breeding of shorter-duration varieties which are amenable to mechanical harvesting can go a long way in weaning farmers away from water guzzling crops such as rice and sugarcane.

M Jeyaram

Sholavandan (TN)

Need for change in attitude

With reference to ‘Stop women from quitting the workforce’, the World Economic Forum’s gender gap report is embarrassing to say the least. Especially when we have Indian Unicorns like Nykaa, Hasura, Pristyn Care, Lead School, Mobikwik, Byju’s etc which have at least one woman founder.

The pandemic could be held partially responsible for this drop but we need to take some drastic steps to bridge the gulf. When data points to a significant number of women keen on working either part- or full-time, it is the government’s responsibility to create a comprehensive database and work closely with Indian Inc.

Besides this we as a society need to change our attitude towards women as they should be allowed to work like men. Women have proven beyond doubt that they are solid multitaskers and have made a mark in many of the “male” domains.

Bal Govind

Noida

Skill development for women

This is with reference to the article, ‘Stop women from quitting the workforce”, (August 4), a significant number of women employees plan to quit jobs due to lack of flexible work hours, lower wages compared to men.

According to Deloitte’s ‘Women@Work 2022: A Global Outlook’ report, about 56 per cent of women say their stress levels are higher than a year ago, and almost half feel burned out.

The report is based on views of 5,000 women surveyed between November 2021 and February 2022 across 10 countries, including 500 in India. Burnout is a top factor which is driving women away from their employers with nearly 40 per cent actively looking for a new employer cited it as the main reason. Stress is a factor that employers need to deal with along with creating more opportunities for women and enhanced pay scales for them. Skill development training programs can be implemented for women at government cost and more freedom at work can be provided to ensure women work enthusiastically and stop quitting from job.

S.Muthulakshmi

Virudhunagar, (TN)

Learning from the temple 

This refers to the report ‘Soon, that famous Tirumala laddu will be fully organic’ (August 4).

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) in recent years has been playing a proactive role in economic development by becoming a model in using the platform of faith to spread the message of resource use for creating facilities for social and economic growth.

The sweet message now being sent out through fully organic laddu by involving a network of thousands of SHGs will go a long way in creating awareness about organic farming and the benefits of organised ventures in production and marketing.

The TTD model in resources management and participation in developmental activities is worth emulating by similarly placed institutions across the country.

MG Warrier

Mumbai

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