In Court
power of the big Banana: A court of appeals in the Philippines recently sided with the banana growers and exporters of the country and allowed the continuation of aerial spraying of pesticides. The
power of the big Banana: A court of appeals in the Philippines recently sided with the banana growers and exporters of the country and allowed the continuation of aerial spraying of pesticides. The
Residue levels of drugs, pesticides and heavy metals in food commodities, is becoming a major concern for food regulators all over the world.
AFTER labeling all its products with a quality seal last year to put the pesticide row behind it, PepsiCo India is again set to roll out a global first.
A study done by Icra has said that though chemical pesticides have contributed to India's growing food production, they have also paved the way for serious outbreaks of pests and diseases as well as
Thanks to pesticide usage falling with Bt cotton, another pest is assuming menacing proportions.
Cases of acute pesticide poisoning (APP) account for significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Developing countries are particularly susceptible due to poorer regulation, lack of surveillance systems, less enforcement, lack of training and inadequate access to information systems. March 2008
Research indicate that developmental exposures to apparently nontoxic doses of DZN compromise neural cell development and alter ACh synaptic function in adolescence and adulthood. The patterns seen here differ substantially from those seen in earlier work with chlorpyrifos, reinforcing the concept that the various organophosphates have fundamentally different effects on the developmental trajectories of specific neurotransmitter systems, unrelated to their shared action as cholinesterase inhibitors. March 2008
Indian state of Punjab is increasingly under focus for the increasingly incidence of cancer mortality as well as indiscriminate use of pesticides in agricultural practices. This study investigates cancer mortality, and its correlations with numerous variables, including demographic characteristics, cropping pattern and pesticide residues in soil and water.
Bob Crebas still introduces himself as "an old hippy.' But these days it is not recycled washing machines and bric-a-brac that the Dutchman trades in. He has swapped all this for fashion collections made from stinging nettles, designed and produced by his fast-growing business Brennels.nl. Four years ago, Crebas and his business partner were selling second-hand wares through a trading website called Marktplaats.nl when they were approached by eBay, the hugely successful auction website, and made the kind of offer you can't refuse. The American firm bought out Marktplaats.nl for
France has announced a ban on the sale of 1,500 pesticides from February 1, 2008. The move is part of the country's plan to phase out the use of 53 phytosanitary substances, used in pesticides,
it is believed that women who grow up on farms have a strong immunity and face a lower risk of allergies than those who don't grow up on farms. A study has found that farm women may be at a
Dry irrigation canals in the Malwa heartland of Punjab have made agriculturists weep. Most of the canals and tributaries in the area have been lying dry and causing drinking water crisis for the past two months, farmers cry. The farmers also lament that they are forced to buy drinking water as the filtration tanks are almost dry. Karnail Singh of Jajjal village said: "It is unfortunate that residents of this area in Punjab, known as the land of five major rivers of the country, are now quenching their thirst by buying water from neighbouring Haryana.' Another resident of the area Gurmail Singh said a tractor owner of Takhatmal village was selling 5,000 litres tank of water to them for Rs 450. The farmers cry that their crops will be affected in case steps are not taken to immediately release water in the canals. The canal water is the main source of drinking water in many of the villages in the area. They point out that the underground water in the area is not fit for consumption because of heavy content of pesticides. The water being procured through private sources is unfiltered that lead to many diseases. The filtration plant constructed with foreign knowhow near Talwandi Sabo township is also lying dry. The small farmers in the adjoining Malkana, Gyana and Lalewal villages are also facing acute shortage of drinking water. Gurmail Singh said residents of Jajjal village did not get adequate supply of drinking water even during normal times as no overhead tank had been built by the Water and Sewerage Board in the area. The water pumped by the filtration plant did not reach the tail-end residents, he added.
Even as the Union government is struggling to boost the country's agriculture extension system, pesticide and crop chemical manufacturers have joined hands with rural ngos to promote safe and judicious usage of pesticides among the farmers.
The 18-hole golf course close to Nal Sarovar, that is driving an unfettered property development near the bird sanctuary, threatens to upset the delicate ecology there. Environmentalists say that the amount of fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and other chemicals required to maintain this vast, artificially created, landscape is a threat to the bio-diversity of the lake. According to experts, the usage of chemicals in maintaining golf courses at times even exceeds the amount used in agriculture. With such intensive use, golf courses threaten to pollute ground and surface waters. Member of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and IIM-A faculty Prof Priyadarshi Shukla says this type of projects causes gradual and irreversible damage which breaks sustainability, putting pressure on the ecosystem. "Our green assets are under threat with a lot of property deve l o p m e n t h ap p e n i n g closer to ecosystems. If special laws are made for SEZs, which are productive assets, special laws are also needed for luxury assets, our ecosystems,' he says. "The golf course is being developed as a private property, but that should not happen at the cost of the ecology of Nal. Development should take place without compromising on the existence and sustainability of the ecology' says Shukla. According to environmentalist Kandarp Kathju, the golf course is more detrimental to the health of Nal Sarovar than any other project coming up there, such as the Film City. "Nal Sarovar and its downstream water bodies are at the heart of the delicate ecological system of the area. Today's golf requires tabletop greenery and this requires pesticides and fertilizers to maintain the course,' he says. Golf courses also require huge amount of water, which can result in depletion of underground as well as surface water levels. The entire area of Nal Sarovar with 360 islets is extremely shallow and seldom more than two metres deep, most of which get submerged during monsoon. Traditionally, farmers in the area have used water from the lake for cultivation. There are around 20,000 buffaloes in surrounding villages that feed on the aquatic plants and grass on the edges of Sarovar eight months of the year."The pesticides are likely to flow into the water bodies, besides percolating into the water table. Not just the aquatic environment, but the entire ecology, of which local communities are an integral part, is facing the risk of toxic chemicals polluting the water bodies,' says Kathju. Shukla says, "Developing a market requires foresight, and it is time the policy makers started
eleven peafowl found dead in Punjab were killed by food contaminated with pesticides. Nine peahens and two peacocks died in Ladhowal forest area near Ludhiana on December 26. The state forest
scientists at Montana University, usa, have developed an alarm system to monitor the bee buzz to track airborne toxins and contaminants. Bees make sounds at different frequencies depending
This plan covers the monitoring of pesticide residues and other agriculture chemicals in fresh fruits of mango for export to Japan. It covers the orchard growers, packinghouses, exporters, accredited test laboratories and the national reference laboratory, and the state/central government organizations involved in with the export certification of mangoes to Japan.