Tag: Payal Seth
Did the COVID-19 Lockdown Reverse the Nutritional Gains in Children? Evidence from Rural India
Abstract To address the missing link that goes beyond the changes in dietary consumption and food expenditures to assess the impact of the pandemic on child undernutrition, specifically anthropometric outcomes, this paper uses primary panel data (pre- and post-COVID-19) from rural India within a child-fixed...
COVID-19 Pandemic Linked to 14% Increase in Underweight Children in India
The nutrition of Indian children suffered dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new research from the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI) that found a sharp rise in underweight children.
In a study published in Economic and Political…
Why Aren’t More Farmers Using Artificial Insemination for Goat Rearing?
As a source of income generation during crop failures, goat-rearing offers many advantages to smallholder farmers in India. But a lack of established markets and infrastructure leaves many farmers dependent on natural breeding practices instead of the more beneficial artificial…
Op-ed Highlights Anomaly in India’s Anemia Figures
While anemia has declined in India from 2005-2015, the latest round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) shows that it is now on the rise, increasing from 53-57% in women and 58-67% in children in the past five years.…
Crop Diversification Can Curb Farm Waste Fires
A trio of TCI researchers writing in The Print argued that the farm waste fires contributing to dangerously high air pollution in North India can best be addressed by incentivizing farmers in the region to grow less rice.
Director Prabhu…
TCI Researchers Urge India to Rethink Palm Oil
India’s plan to increase domestic production of palm oil could have detrimental effects on the environment and farmer livelihoods, argue Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI) researcher Payal Seth and Associate Director Bhaskar Mittra in a Financial Express op-ed.…
Sowing Trouble: The Beginnings of an Alcohol Problem?
On June 2, 2021, the Indian government announced a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for several key sectors of the economy. Under this scheme, the fuel companies will be required to sell gasoline containing up to 20 percent ethanol by 2023, with the view to reduce dependency on oil imports and lower carbon dioxide emissions in cities. (Ethanol adds extra oxygen to petrol which lowers the emission of harmful gases and is shown to significantly reduce air pollution.) This target implies that India will need 1,000 crore liters of ethanol against the nation’s current capacity of 684 crore liters.
Op-Ed Warns Increased Ethanol Production Could Affect Nutrition Security
The Indian government’s plan to incentivize sugarcane production to boost the supply of fuel-grade ethanol could hurt efforts to improve nutrition outcomes in the country, according to researchers from the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI).
In an op-ed…
Indian Women’s Nutrition Suffered during COVID-19 Lockdown
The 2020 nationwide lockdown India imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions that negatively impacted women’s nutrition, according to a new study from the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition.
Published in the journal Economia Politica, the study…
COVID-19 and Women’s Nutrition Security: Panel Data Evidence from Rural India
Abstract In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, India implemented a stringent nationwide lockdown. Although food value chains and allied activities were exempted from the lockdown, there were widespread disruptions in food access and availability. Using two-panel datasets, we distinguish the pandemic’s impact on non-staples versus...