Dear readers,

Fertilisers, especially chemical fertilisers, in the environmental context is not a happy word. It is understood to be a cause of deteriorating soil and water quality apart from  exacerbating climate change and adversely impacting human health. But, fertilisers are not bad at all–just misunderstood. Much like plastics - often made out to be the bad guy, fertilisers pretty much depend on our usage. Abuse the power and it turns back on you, use it judiciously and its your friend for life.

This issue is dedicated to the sustainable usage of fertilisers. It will give you insights of how India’s skewed policies and lopsided subsidies have distorted the nutrient balance (of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) in the green fields leaving farmers no option but to rely on heavy doses of low-cost urea (nitrogen). The spiral of low production and further doses of urea has resulted in a bottomless pit of discontent, especially in relatively prosperous states of Punjab and Haryana. Added to the woes is a heavy import bill and non-availability of natural gas for stepping up fertiliser production.

Our second section, among other features, takes the sanitary napkin disposal story a step further, involving stakeholders who have been working in this sector for decades. GnY is indebted to its readers for their support and appreciation. We assure that low-cost biodegradable sanitary napkins will be the order of the day very soon.

A succinct section on quantitative geography also awaits, a sure shot for all those who wanted to, but never really understood how the human development and other indexes are computed.

Happy reading.