Futuristic farming

Sir — Agriculture has taken giant leaps in the recent past. A burgeoning global population and shrinking acreage of arable land have forced farmers to come up with innovative ideas. For instance, a software engineer in Pune recently cultivated saffron inside shipping containers using aeroponic techniques, wherein plants are grown in the air or mist. It is exhilarating to imagine that humanity can now grow crops without soil, using only nutrient-rich solutions for plant growth. Perhaps these techniques will place us in good stead if humanity decides to migrate to Mars in the future.

Shalini Basu Roy, Murshidabad

Bridging differences

Sir — Rahul Gandhi’s homage at the samadhis of the former prime ministers, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Chaudhary Charan Singh, shows the high regard in which he holds them. The Vajpayee government maintained cordial relations with the Opposition parties despite ideological differences. But the current dispensation’s strategy seems to comprise only attacks on the Nehru-Gandhi family. In keeping with our nation’s pluralistic heritage, the prime minister should try to work with the Opposition.

Iftekhar Ahmed, Calcutta

Sir — It is heartening that Rahul Gandhi not only paid tribute to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the former prime minister and leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, at his memorial but also visited memorials of other leaders who have contributed to nation-building. The BJP is seen paying homage only to its own ideologues. With his politics of love and reconciliation, Rahul is sending out the message that his aim is to unite India.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee, Calcutta

Sir — Rahul Gandhi not only paid his respects to Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress’s Dalit leader, Jagjivan Ram, but also visited the memorials of six former prime ministers, irrespective of their political ideology. This gesture was in line with the inclusive spirit of the Bharat Jodo Yatra and is a befitting reply to the divisive politics of the BJP.

Bhagwan Thadani, Mumbai

Grave charges

Sir — The Bhima-Koregaon riots, which occurred on January 1, 2018, and the subsequent arrests of those who advocate for Dalit rights reveal that the plight of the marginalised community has not improved. While several of those arrested are still languishing in jail and Father Stan Swamy passed away in police custody, new evidence has come to light in the form of the senior investigating officer, Ganesh More, claiming that there was no link between the Elgar Parishad event and the Bhima-Koregaon violence. This raises questions about the integrity of the probe conducted by the National Investigation Agency.

Jang Bahadur Singh, Jamshedpur

Laboured victory

Sir — The Men in Blue overcame a valiant Bangladeshi fightback to win the second Test in the neighbouring country. The credit for the win goes to the resolute efforts of both Ravichandran Ashwin and Shreyas Iyer after the top order collapsed yet again. The most egregious error on the part of the Indian team management was the exclusion of Kuldeep Yadav.

M.N. Gupta, Hooghly

Creative mind

Sir — December 28, 2022 marked the 100th birth anniversary of Stan Lee, the creator of superheroes and a Marvel Comics icon. He is worshipped around the globe for producing such beloved superheroes as Iron Man, the Hulk, Spider-Man, as well as for inventing franchises like the Fantastic Four and the X-Men in collaboration with artists like Jack Kirby.

M. Pradyu, Kannur