Pulses

20th October 2016

India rules the pulses-and-beans market

Pulses and beans, belonging to the legume family, are responsible for feeding majority of the world’s poor. Grown abundantly in the tropics, they are cheap, high in nutrient content, and healthy. Beans are an important source of proteins, complex carbohydrates, and micronutrients. People in sub-Saharan Africa consume as much as 66 kilograms of pulses per person per year. Legumes are also necessary to sustain farming systems. They help in replenishing lost nutrients in the soil, thus cutting down on the need to use chemical fertilizers. In addition, they provide rich fodder for farm animals.

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16th May 2016

What is entomophagy?

The practice of people eating insects is called entomophagy. It has been practised for centuries throughout Africa, Australia, Asia, the Middle East, and North, Central and South America. This is because many bugs are both protein-rich and good sources of vitamins, minerals and fats.

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4th May 2016

The longest river in the world

The Nile is one of the most interesting rivers of the world owing to the ancient Egyptian civilization, which is known as the ‘Gift of Nile’. The river originates in the well-watered regions of northeastern Africa and proceeds to drain northwards in the Mediterranean Sea. It is known as the world’s longest river. Although different sources provide different measurements of the river, according to some experts it is 6,650 kilometres long.

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16th February 2016

Which is the world’s densest wood?

The black ironwood is the wood from the tree Olea laurifolia found in the forests of the South Africa. It is the world’s densest wood with a specific gravity of 1.49. It is also one of the heaviest woods with a weight of 452 kg per square metre. Owing to its specific gravity being higher than water, it sinks in water.

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15th February 2016

Stay away from the Capes!

The sea is rough in Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America and the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. This is probably because of the difference in the depth of waters. The waters near the shores are a few hundred metres deep while the waters in the sea a few kilometres away are thousands of metres deep. The underwater waves which pass by the shelf hit the shelf and rise up with great force causing rough seas.

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