Ujjain: Haritma Abhiyan, a plantation drive along the banks of the Kshipra took off on Tuesday. Saplings of neem, pipal and banyan trees were planted at gaughat area by energy minister Paras Jain, divisional commissioner MB Ojha and Mayor Meena Jonwal in the interests of environment protection, giving ambitious environment …
the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers is deliberating on a mechanism to promote neem-coated fertilizers. The move is an attempt to prevent soil fatigue caused by imbalanced and excessive use of urea, and increasing crop yields. With the government set to promote neem-coated fertilizer, its manufacturers recently approached the …
the department of biotechnology (dbt) under the Union ministry of science and technology and earth science claims they are supporting coordinated research projects on development of plant-based pesticides. According to Kapil Sibal, the minister concerned, the aim is to bring out cost-effective and commercially viable formulations for use under integrated …
the Indian origin of medical knowledge, used to develop modern treatments, will be given due recognition in Britain from now on. Presently, there is rampant misrepresentation of traditional treatment methods such as ayurveda and unani. Multinationals falsely market them as their innovations. But this bio-piracy will no longer be possible …
researchers from the Gauhati University, Assam, have developed a neem leaf powder (nlp) that acts as a dye remover and also helps get rid of heavy metals such as lead and chromium from solutions. "A small amount (1 gramme) of nlp could remove as much as 95 per cent of …
India's traditional wisdom was recently upheld with the country winning a tussle over neem patent. On March 8, 2005, the European Patent Office (epo) dismissed an appeal against the repeal of a patent for making a neem -based fungicide granted jointly to the us Department of Agriculture and chemical multinational …
The idea that food has therapeutic value is not a new one. Ayurveda, for instance, recommends diet regimes based on seasons and on an individual's constitution (see box: Take cues from traditional wisdom). And it's not just this ancient system of medicine. Traditional communities in most countries had dietary practices …
HERBAL BEER Looks, smells, even tastes like it. But is it beer? WHAT GOES IN? Pub-crawlers beware, herbal beer is just raw mango mixed with herbs (Andrographis or kalmegh and Tinospora or guduchi), fermented for a week. Besides mango (Mangifera indica), other fruit such as amla (Phyllanthus emblica), guava (Psidium …
a meeting of the Convention on Biodiversity (cbd) will be held in February in Bangkok to discuss rules for international transfer of biological resources. In preparation, ministerial delegations of a group of developing countries called the Like Minded Megadiverse Countries (lmmc) met January 20-21 in New Delhi to develop a …
A field experiment conducted at the College of Agriculture, CSKHPKV, Palampur, H.P. during 1999-2000 revealed that the synthetic pyrethroid treatments viz., deltamethrin, cypermethrin and fenvalerate gave significantly less fruit infestation of cucurbit fruit fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae Coq. upto 14 days of spray on summer squash compared to malathion.
Neem pachidi (chutney) In two teaspoons of oil, add one-and-a-half teaspoon of mustard seeds, one red chilli and one teaspoon of dried neem flowers. Add some thick tamarind juice to the mixture. Then put three to four teaspoons of powdered jaggery and cook for about two minutes. The chutney is …
Neem pata chawal Bhaja Chop fresh neem leaves. Thereafter, grind proportionate amount of rice along with a little ginger and garlic. Add salt to taste in the mixture and put the leaves in it. Then pour one-fourth cup of the mixture on a greased frying pan, and smear it to …
A collaboration of geneticists, chemical engineers, pharmacists, agronomists and dieticians could not have produced a more valuable tree than neem (Azadirachta indica) . For many people worldwide, neem is priceless due to its numerous medicinal properties. It is such a cherished tree that in Sanskrit it has 31 epithets. In …
focussing excessively on neem-based products might be harmful to health. Kripa Awasthy from Jharkhand-based kkm College and Parimal Khan from Bihar-based Patna Women's College claim that leaf extracts of neem (Azadirachta indica) damage the genetic material of mice sperms. During their experiments, the researchers extracted the key ingredient of mature …
The National Highway Development Project is the government's pet. One such stretch being developed is National Highway 8 linking Jaipur to Ajmer and on to Mumbai and beyond. The highway was being widened near the town of Bagru. The bulldozers were out. The process was laboured. The trees were massive. …
there is some good news for farmers. Delhi-based National Fertilisers Limited (nfl) has started manufacturing urea coated with neem oil. Fifty field trials conducted in three states show positive results, with an average increase of 16 per cent in crop production. "On an average, 20 per cent less neem-coated urea …
RIGHTS ISSUE: A patent on atta chakkis (flour mills). It sure was unexpected. But it's been granted. The latest victim of the patent rights regime is the Asian traditional knowledge of producing atta. The US patent office has given patent rights to Nebraska-based ConAgra Inc for the "method for producing …
FARMERS in Karnataka are now enjoying the fruits of labour in more ways than one. Not only are they earning from their produce, even carbon dioxide (CO2) trapped by the plants they grow is being sold by them. And, in the process, they are providing an economical option to developed …
it was a long bitter fight. But for India, it ended on a promising note. Consistent campaigning by non-governmental organi-sations ( ngo s) in both India and abroad forced the revocation of a patent granted jointly to the us Department of Agriculture ( usda ) and the us chemical major …
