Assam girl shows how grass can be used to fight climate change

DHUBRI, April 2: While the whole world is working to find a way to stop global warming and climate change, a girl from Assam – Karabi Pathak has found a grass species, Imperata cylindrica  which can play a vital role in climate change mitigation. Karabi did her PhD in ‘Carbon Storage and  Squestration Opportunities of Imperata Grassland in Barak Valley, Assam’ under the guidance of Dr. Arun Jyoti th and Prof. Ashesh Kumar Das of Assam University, Silchar while she was guided by Prof. Yadvinder Malhi in the University of Oxford, UK. Her research papers were published in renowned jourls, including Land Degradation and Development, Current Science. This finding will open new doors of opportunities and add to the list of various ways being implemented by different countries in the mission of climate change adaptation and mitigation and de-warming the world environment, as agreed upon in the Paris Convention in 2015.

When contacted, Karabi Pathak told The Sentinel that there were opportunities to explore because it was found during her research that Imperata grasslands removed about 3 Mg CO2 per hectare per year /(3 Mg CO2  ha-1 year-1) that exerts a negative feedback to global climate change. Furthermore, on sloppy degraded lands, Imperata  grasslands can be maged to restore soil physical, chemical and biological properties, she added. “Since the Imperata grasslands are maged traditiolly in rural landscapes of Northeast India for monetary benefits, efforts should be made to encourage its promotion keeping other utilities in mind. I hope my research will go a long way in de-warming the environment,” she added. Karabi is daughter of social worker Rudra Kumar Pathak and Joymoti Pathak of Abhayapuri town of Bongaigaon district.