This report evaluates emission mitigation options to achieve net-zero carbon emissions through marginal abatement cost (MAC) curves for the existing plants in the fertiliser industry. MAC curves were developed for three major fertilisers produced in India, which account for 85 per cent of total fertiliser production—urea, di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), and …
THE UNION government has sanctioned a Rs 10.16 crore plan for the popularisation of biopesticides. This comes on the heels of a large outlay for organic farming announced in the present five-year plan. The project, proposed by the department of biotechnology (DBT) and approved on January 24, envisages the setting …
IN THE near future, plastic won't be an environmental pejorative. The Japan Corn Starch Co Ltd, in collaboration with US business firm Grand River Technologies of Michigan, will produce a fully biodegradable plastic from corn starch that decomposes readily and can be used as compost for the corn crop (New …
If an initiative by the department of biotechnology (DBT) to push ecofriendly biofertilisers succeeds, it will revolutionise Indian agriculture and loosen the hold of chemical fertilisers. DBT has proposed that the production of biofertilisers be given industry status to promote mass production and ensure quality control. Says P K Ghosh, …
Microorganisms, earthworms enrich the soil Biofertilisers and earthworms are increasingly being used to replace chemical fertilizers NATURAL is better than artificial -- at least as far as agriculture is concerned. Chemical fertilisers and pesticides -- though effective to some extent -- have proved to have adverse effects in the long …
IN TAMIL Nadu, some municipal corporations have begun to sell organic manure to farmers. This not only solves the problem of waste disposal but also supplements their budgets. In 1992-93, the Thanjavur municipal corporation sold 11,790 tonnes of organic manure for Rs 1.69 lakh. The manure consists largely of wastes …
Simultaneous cultivation of several crops , using organic manures and pesticides, can raise productivity, says Karnataka's L Narayana Reddy. CATTLE urine fights pests such as white flies far more effectively than chemicals such as malathion; besides, dung manure doesn't lower paddy productivity, says organic farmer L Narayana Reddy, of Sorhanese …
SOLID waste is piling up in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu. Entrepreneurs whose businesses are based on tourism say the country will lose tourists -- its major foreign exchange earner -- if the situation does not improve soon. Garbage disposal has been a problem since erstwhile West Germany, which had earlier …
WHAT DISTINGUISHES the Gloria Land (GL) farm of Pondicherry"s Aurobindo Ashram and the farm run by Julie and Vivek Cariappa near Mysore from that of their neighbours, is that a mash of leaves, cattle dung and a carefully chosen mix of crops have displaced inorganic fertilisers and pesticides completely. Yet …
THE DUTCH government has reached an agreement with livestock farmers to reduce pollution-causing manure surpluses by 2000 and thereby avert forced cuts in pig, cattle and poultry herds. The amount of harmful phosphorus in manure produced on farms will be reduced by 30 per cent of the 1986 level by …
SMALL farmers who cannot afford expensive rat-poisons now have a cheap, natural alternative: A fastgrowing tropical tree, Ghricidia sepium, whose leaves when fermented act as a potent rat-killer (Ceres, Vol 25, No 2). The vermin die of internal bleeding as the toxin reduces production of prothrombin, a blood-clotting agent secreted …
A British firm is marketing an environment-friendly, flushless toilet that doesn't require disinfectants, deodorants or sewer connections and even turns human waste into compost (New Scientist, Vol 138, No 1868). Dubbed the Clivus system, the innovative toilet has a chute beneath the pan that conveys waste downward to a polyethylene …
STRINGENT environmental stipulations and falling quality, due to techniques used to boost production, have resulted in a crisis in the high-tech, $2.8 billion a year Dutch flower industry. Dutch growers are also hurting because of increasing competition from southern European countries, Israel and some developing countries, which has reduced prices …
INDIAN VILLAGERS don't just pick up any cow-pat they find. Even this lowly excrement, so prominently strewn around, is governed by a complex set of ownership rules in rural India, and is not to be collected and used by anybody. It all depends on local village rules, on who is …
THE Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) has devised now techniques of using fertilisers - through the split application and the deep placement methods and using granules rather than powder - which will prevent the loss of nitrogen into the atmosphere and the water table, and result in higher crop yields …
