THE mythical clock has struck. A billion and ticking at the rate of 29 per minute, 1790 per hour... The rise in human numbers is accompanied by a host of problems. Knowledge of the carrying capacity of India's lands is extremely limited. There is no worthwhile study covering even the area of a development block, let alone a state or the entire nation. A Food and Agricultural Organisation (fao) study, conducted way back in the early 1980s, shows that unlike many other countries India is in a position to feed at least two billion more people with known technology. In other words, properly managed, India's lands can bloom bringing unprecedented prosperity.

But this does not mean that population must expand to fill the ecological productivity possible, or family planning programmes are not important. What is important is to recognise the need to sustainably manage our natural resources