Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of News item titled "the last feral horses in India" appearing in Mongabay dated 05.11.2024 dated 16/12/2024. The application was registered suo-motu on the basis of the news item titled "The Last Feral Horses in India" appearing in Mongabay dated November …
THE deadly DDT was banned for agricultural use in India in 1992, when it was found that the daily diet of Indians contained 0.27 milli grams (mg) of this pesticide. Recently, India saw the banning of Benzene Hexachloride (BHC), a pesticide which causes turnours, leukemia, liver and kidney damage and …
A LARGE number of tea gardens in Darjeeling have switched over to organic tea. No inorganic fertilisers, pesticides and wcedicides are used. The planters only use bio-compost, biomass-based mulching is being used as fertilisers. Similarly, only neem-based pesticides and weedicides like Neerrigold and Neemazol are used. Organic tea is meant …
green banking has become big business in the Netherlands. Two years ago, politically-correct banking and investment was limited to three small idealistic banks-Triodosbank (originated from the anthroposophic movement which sees human beings in relation to the cosmos), asn Bank (founded by the trade unions) and the Other Investment Fund (founded …
a novel method of managing food waste from school meals has not only generated economic and environmental dividends, but also established a kinship between urban and rural people. The food waste is recycled into compost for use in agricultural fertilisers. The compost is used by farmers in rural areas to …
Organic tea cultivation is fast emerging as an alternate source of income for small and marginal farmers in the Darjeeling hills. The founder of the locally based Specialised Agriculture and Indus trial Consultancy on Tea and veteran tea planter, Harish Mukhia, says that his firm has recently supplied good quality …
how has a tiny country like the Netherlands managed to become the world's third largest exporter of agricultural products? The answer to this also explains the ecological crisis Dutch agriculture confronts today: the intensive use of fertilisers and pesticides. Even though estimates drawn by the Centre for Energy-Saving and Clean …
jalshakti, a granular, free-flowing, organic product designed to improve plant-water relationship is a novel super absorbent polymer with an amazing ability to absorb and retain water about 150-200 times its weight. It is non-toxic, biodegradable, its properties do not vary between the temperature range of 20-70
Indian Agricultural Research Institute scientists have identified two fungus species that can convert chopped paddy straw into organic manure. As fodder for farm animals, straw has poor nutritive value. However, farmers can make the most out of it when it is converted into manure. The recipe: prepare a mixture of …
An innovative scheme that combines the latest biotechnology with traditional organic farming methods will be tried out in some villages in Pondicherry to improve the income levels of the landless, small and marginal farmers. The Rs 1.5 crore project, funded by the United Nations Development Programme, will be implemented by …
THE "do nothing" principle of natural farming has resulted in bounteous harvests for Bhaskar Save, whose 14-acre farm, Kalpavruksha, is located in Deheri village in Gujarat"s Valsad district. Three decades ago, Save abandoned chemical fertilisers, pesticides and heavy machinery. "Minimum interference with growth is called natural farming," says Save. "Trees …
DESPITE the normally high prices of organic foods, there doesn't seem to be enough of it going around. Natu Bhai Shah, a sales representative, says that organic products -- bought mainly by "scientists and intellectuals" -- are invariably in short supply. Anil D Shah, chairperson of Mahajanam, a Bombay-based NGO …
EIGHTY-year-old Ganapathyrao Mhetre has a fondness for grapes. He is an avid collector of books and journals on grape cultivation. And since 1991, he has experimented with cultivating them organically. The idea of going organic occurred to Mhetre because the land around Tasgaon in Maharashtra's Sangli district, where he owns …
BUSINESS firms are cashing in on earthworms. These burrowers of the soil are miniature factories of natural fertilisers. They consume organic waste and their excreta, known as worm-cast, is gaining popularity as fertiliser because unlike chemical fertilisers, they do not pollute the soil and water. One research study shows that …
EVERY day, a truck draws up to Jayanth V Barve's farm near Vite town in Sangli district and dumps about one tonne of municipal waste. Barve pays Rs 20 for the transportation and then his workers set out to transform the refuse into vermicompost, which is sold at Rs 2,600 …
THOUGH Indian farmers have practised sustainable farming for generations, the Union government has only now awakened to the need to promote ecofriendly, organic farming. In early January, the Union government announced an outlay of Rs 26 crore for organic farming during the remaining years of the eighth five-year plan (1992-97). …
How did you switch from mathematics to agriculture research? Since childhood, I was fond of growing crops and the yields were impressive. Kitchen garden and wasteland research gave me enough confidence to start experimenting with other crops. On the terrace of my house, I successfully raised sandal, which needs special …
FARMERS and agencies in many parts of the country are experimenting with organic farming-using natural products such as manure - because it is ecofriendly and because such farm products are gaining in popularity. But there is a dearth of literature on organic farming. The Centre for Science and Environment, involved …
The visit in mid-December of a delegation from the Japanese International Nature Farming Research Centre (INFRC), gave a big boost to organic farmers in India. The Japanese are proponents of a high-technology alternative -- the Effective Microorganism Method (EMM). INFRC president Teruo Higa explained EMM involves the use of cultures …
INDIAN farmers are cashing in on the Western fad for organically produced food. But before organic farmers can start dreaming of the greenback, it is virtually essential for their produce to get international accreditation or recognition. Kurunji Organic Food India Pvt Ltd (KOFIL), a Tamil Nadu-based agency, was the first …
A PLAN to reward UK farmers switching to organic methods has been criticised for not recognising those already practising organic farming. Under the five-year scheme, the government will pay British farmers who convert to organic methods $104.16 a hectare initially, reducing this to $37.2 a hectare in the last year. …
