Order of the National Green Tribunal (Eastern Zone Bench, Kolkata) in the matter of Srikanta Samanta Vs State of West Bengal dated 13/11/2024. The matter related to a dumping ground located near the southern boundary wall of the Nabagram Hiralal Pau College, Konnagar, Hooghly which is posing a serious environmental …
A SMALL, green caterpillar has proved to be the scourge of the 3 cotton-growing northwestern Indian states of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. Over the past 2 years, the seemingly innocuous American bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) has chewed its way into ripening bolls of cotton, destroying over half the cotton crop. The …
INPUTS such as irrigation, high yielding seeds, fertilisers, agro-chemicals and electrical power should have made life easier for the farmer. But despite the availability of such facilities -- or because of it -- 24 small and marginal farmers of Andhra Pradesh's Guntur and Prakasam districts committed suicide in 1987-88 because …
WITH the limitations of synthetic insecticides and their adverse effects on the environment, scientists are trying to tackle crop pests such as bollworms by integrated pest management (IPM). "IPM is the consolidation of evaluated pest management techniques into a unified programme to manage pest populations to minimise economic loss and …
EXOTIC COTTON (Long-stapled) Advantages • Fibre is fine • Fibre can easily be spun into threads • Fibre is strong and maintains shape • Ideal for mechanised spinning and weaving in textile industry • Definite flowering periods Disadvantages • Susceptible to pests and diseases • Seeds outweigh fibre • Higher …
INDIAN agricultural scientists have virtually given up trying to contain the spread of an American pest that sneaked into India about two years ago. G C Tewari of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), who first studied the pest, now says, "We will have to live with the pest. …
PAKISTAN failed to warn India about the magnitude of locust swarms that flew into Kutch and Rajasthan between July 5 and August 23, complain Indian agriculture ministry officials, according to newspaper reports. Indian officials accuse Pakistani authorities of consciously neglecting the problem, knowing the swarms would soon be blown into …
THE INDIAN cotton crop, already attacked by several insects resistant to most insecticides, is now falling prey to a new insect -- the American serpentine leaf-miner. Scientists suspect this new threat, a native of southern USA, entered the country in 1990-91, probably from Kenya or Europe, along with chrysanthemum cuttings. …
PAKISTAN'S cotton crop will reach the target of 960 million kg despite the locust threat and reports of a virus attack, according to the country's central cotton committee. The final output, however, will depend on the extent to which Pakistan is able to mitigate the damage from the locust attack. …
Swarms of locusts that descended over Rajasthan about two months ago seem to have played havoc not only with standing crops but with the flow of information as well: there is hardly any assertion about controlling locusts and the extent of damage caused by them that is not contradicted. The …
THE recent locust attack has made India and Pakistan suspend their rivalry and launch a large-scale joint operation along their border between Punjab and Sindh. "This is a common problem. We'll have to face it together close to border areas," said Zahid Saeed, Pakistan's acting foreign secretary. The country's cotton …
ENTOMOLOGISTS have identified a fungus (Pandora delphacis) that can kill two types of pests -- brown planthoppers (Nilaparvata lugens) and green leafhoppers (Nephotettix spp) -- that target the rice crop in India. P Narayanasamy and L Udaya Prabhakar of Annamalai University and R A Humber of the US department of …
WHEN SWARMS of desert locusts from Africa invaded Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat in early July this yearfarmers helplessly re-lived the horror of seeing their crops destroyed. Says Prahlad Singh of Derdokabas village in Jodhpur districtAfter waiting for years, we finally had a good monsoon and the crops grew well. …
With tonnes of toxic chemicals being poured into the desert soil to kill locusts, experts warn of damage to the area's delicate ecosystem. The widespread use of banned organochlorine pesticides -- dieldrin in particular -- is expected to have serious ecological effects. Officials counter, "We use a mild mixture of …
African locusts, which have been infesting parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan since mid-July, are keeping pest control experts on their toes. The agriculture ministry has pressed into action two helicopters and a Vayudoot aircraft, armed with sprayers and insecticides, to fight the locusts that rode a cyclonic storm from Oman …
SCIENTISTS at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) in Coimbatore have successfully used viruses to control pests. Mass production units are now being set up to meet the rapidly increasing demand for these viruses, says P C Sundara Babu, head of the entomology department at TNAU. TNAU scientists are using …
