The heat trap

Chhaya Gaikwad didn’t know that ignoring her father-in-law’s advice of not working in scorching heat could cost her over $1,000. Gaikwad has been a farmer for over 30 years and has a wealth of knowledge about farming. For the past decade, she has been cultivating radish pods and has perfected the art of growing and harvesting them. She knows the precise timing for the best yield and how market demand shifts with the seasons. Yet last year, she made a significant mistake for the first time. Last summer, when the temperature reached 44 °C (111.2 °F) in her village in India, 50-year-old Gaikwad worked in the fields for 8 h a day. Her late father-in-law, Sakharam Gaikwad, had warned her against this, but she dismissed his concerns, convinced she was too young to be affected by the heat. Gaikwad spent her days planting and watering crops, weeding the fields, harvesting