Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item Titled "Neglected Katora Houz in Hyderabad’s Golconda Fort Cries for attention appearing in ‘The Siasat Daily’ dated 25 May 2025". The application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled “Neglected Katora Houz in Hyderabad’s …
To put it in a nutshell, the factors that have contributed to the lack of development of organic market in India include low awareness about the perils of chemically farmed products, high prices of organic produce, lack of consumer confidence in organic food standards and their erratic supply. Smritee Singh, …
The government's interventions have focused on promoting certified organic production, missing out the challenge of using the organic route to reward traditional, marginal farmers. This misplaced priority seems to be changing. A master plan for the production of organic coffee is almost ready. Formulated by the coffee board, the plan …
Over the years, the use of bio-technology ( bt ) has emerged as a useful means to control crop pests. Because bt produced toxins against the insects, it represents a potential transgenic solution for pest control. The Chinese have put in a lot of effort to develop a virus-resistant variety …
cotton production in Punjab is likely to suffer if farmers do not take remedial measures against whitefly pests that were detected recently. Regular surveys carried out by entomologists of the Punjab Agriculture University (pau) have revealed a high build-up of whitefly pests in cotton in the state. Scientists have advised …
the harmless natural oil that gives peaches their perfume can also be used as a pesticide, scientists working for the us government have found. The oil kills fungus and other pests in the soil and could replace methyl bromide, a widely used pesticide that is toxic to humans and harms …
The Asian longhorn beetle has been spotted in the northern areas of Chicago in the US. The state and the federal governments are planning to fell a substantial number of hardwood trees in order to contain the spread of the tree-devouring Chinese beetle. The beetle was found only once before …
from 2.2 million cases in 1993, the incidence of malaria in India has grown to more than 3 million cases in 1997. And, it is still growing. Even as you read, the malaria parasite is developing resistance to the latest drugs, having already taught its genes how to digest earlier …
Work on bioenvironmental management in the state capital Panaji and in the tourist area of Candolim-Calangute has reached a dead-end, thanks to the uninterested stance of the Goa government. Completely ignoring past efforts, Goa is turning back to chemicals. In 1986, malaria suddenly engulfed Panaji due to growing resistance in …
Filariasis, another disease spread by mosquitoes, is a greater problem in southern India than in the north. In extreme cases, it is marked by swelling of the feet known as elephantiasis. From 1981 to 1986, the vcrc achieved filariasis control in Pondicherry just by improving the town's environmental sanitation. But …
Rise in malaria cases has been a matter of great concern in Chennai. According to studies conducted by the mrc , the total number of malaria cases rose from 41,822 cases in 1995 to 45,930 in 1996. What is alarming is that cerebral malaria, an acute form of the disease …
While the industrial complex of the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited ( bhel ) boasts of lower incidence of malaria due to the efforts of the civil maintenance department of the bhel and the mrc , the Hardwar city continues in its battle against mosquitoes. In 1986, the mrc started bioenvironmental …
With great vigour, the mrc took up the first bioenvironmental programme in 1983 in the Nadiad taluka in district Kheda, central Gujarat. For five years, its staff toiled relentlessly in this area to eliminate breeding sources without the use of chemicals. The project ended in 1989. "We wound up in …
mrc 's scientists demonstrated a dramatic fall in malaria incidence just by applying larvivorous fishes in water bodies in Kolar, Karnataka. After six years of innovative work in Kolar, the mrc is continuing its efforts, wondering what will happen after they wind up operations. "State officials are excited and happy …
The Banavara primary health centre ( phc ) in district Hassan, Karnataka, recorded 8,028 malaria cases in 1995. Reason: the high percentage of migrant labourers from Andhra Pradesh who work as stone cutters in the Chikkur railway line conversion project. In 1995, the mrc expanded its work in Kanakatte and …
What do the field experiences tell us? Firstly, bioenvironmental management can be a working alternative to contain malaria. The science of the methodology is sound. Secondly, the efforts of the mrc and the vcrc proved to be successful in the short term but failed in the long term due to …
It is very interesting to compare the costs of carrying out bioenvironmental control measures and chemical spray ing. "It is the cheapest way of preventing malaria, cheaper even than DDT,' confirms V P Sharma, director, Malaria Research Centre, New Delhi. "And on a national basis, it will turn out even …
In the US, this is the third year of farmers successfully growing crops that are genetically engineered to make their own pesticide, known as Bt toxin, a natural poison obtained from the soil bacterium * Bacillus thuringensis *. Even organic farmers approve of Bt-crops as the toxin is highly specific …
Scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, have discovered a fungus that can save tomato plants from the attacks of nematode worm. The fungus Paecilomyces lilacinus can parasitise eggs of the root knot nematode ( Meloidogyne incognita ) that infects tomato plants. The team found that of …
Researchers at Colorado State University, USA, believe that they have found an environmentally friendly method of dealing with rootworms that ravage cornfields. The experiment were based on the discovery that rootworm larvae search for the roots of the plant by detecting the carbon dioxide (CO2) that roots emit. Louis B …
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 …
