The Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers presented its report on ‘Insecticides and Pesticides – Promotion and Development including Safe Usage – Licensing Regime for Insecticides’ on December 19, 2023. Pesticides are broadly of four types: insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, and bio-pesticides. Herbicides kill/control the growth of weeds, and have the …
In a bid to prevent farmers from harmful effects of agrochemicals, the government has banned the use of glyphosate in four districts with immediate effect. Agriculture Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena told The Island that the government had decided to ban the use of glyphosate in Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Kurunegala, Monaragala and …
Climate change and chemicals like pesticides are driving the crisis. The ice of Antarctica doesn't faze them. Nor does the heat of the tropics. They thrive in the desert, in swamps, on the open ocean, on sheer rock faces, on treeless tundra, atop airless mountaintops, and burrowed into barren soil. …
ERODE: On Tuesday farmers in Kanchikoil village in Erode district pledged not to use hybrid or tissue cultured paddy varieties for crop cultivation. They decided to use only traditional paddy varieties which do not need pesticides and other fertilisers. "We have taken this decision after we realised that the soil …
UDHAGAMANDALAM: The Tea Board of India (South) has said that Indian teas are safe as stringent standards are followed during production and tea plantations operate under several statutes and laws passed by the government, notably the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSSA). The statement is in response to international …
MALAPPURAM: Even though the Supreme Court banned endosulfan in the country in May 2011, the Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee (CIBRC) continues to list it under approved pesticides. The CIBRC website has listed endosulfan under the categories 'pesticides and formulations approved for use in India' and 'approved formulation of …
Says samples of leading brands tested contain unacceptable levels of dangerous chemicals; govt's Tea Board denies charges The Indian arm of Greenpeace, a global pressure group for the environment, alleged on Monday that pesticides considered both highly and moderately hazardous by the World Health Organization (WHO) had been found in …
An investigation carried out by Greenpeace India has found residues of hazardous chemical pesticides in a majority of samples of the main brands of packaged tea produced and consumed in India. Over half of the samples contained pesticides that are ‘unapproved’ for use in tea cultivation or which were present …
After initiating its monitoring campaign in the Kathmandu valley, the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD) has moved to districts to check the use of pesticides in various vegetables and fruits. On Wednesday, the ministry directed its all district-based offices across the country to strictly monitor such practices at farm and …
The government is mulling over introducing mobile pesticide residue checking system to control excessive use of pesticides in fruits and vegetables across the country. Plant Protection Directorate (PPD) -- a government body that operates pesticide residue testing laboratory at the Kalimati vegetables market -- on Tuesday forwarded a proposal to …
MANGALORE: Amicus curiae Vaishali Hegde who had visited Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts a couple of days back to oversee the relief and rehabilitation of endosulfan victims has observed that pension disbursement to victims' was not satisfactory. Udupi Human Rights Foundation president Ravindranath Shanbhag, a member of the committee headed …
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are developmental toxicants but the impact of both maternal and paternal exposures on offspring birth size is largely unexplored. The objective of the study was to examine associations between maternal and paternal serum concentrations of 63 POPs, comprising five major classes of pollutants, with birth size …
A stricter standard on pesticide residue for farm produce in China will take effect on Friday. The new standard includes 3,650 indices detailing the maximum allowable residue for 387 pesticides on 284 types of food, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Health and Family Planning Commission, which …
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) has been used extensively to control malaria, typhus, body lice and bubonic plague worldwide, until countries began restricting its use in the 1970s. Its use in malaria control continues in some countries according to recommendation by the World Health Organization. Individuals exposed to elevated levels of DDT and …
Bees are dropping like flies in Colorado, with some pollinators seen dying in midflight, scaring some homeowners into getting rid of pesticides on their properties. Residents in north Boulder, located 30 miles northwest of Denver, are growing accustomed to the the sight of honey bee corpses littering their properties. 'I …
Genetically modified corn seeds are no longer protecting Brazilian farmers from voracious tropical bugs, increasing costs as producers turn to pesticides, a farm group said on Monday. Producers want four major manufacturers of so-called BT corn seeds to reimburse them for the cost of spraying up to three coats of …
Environmental compounds including fungicides, plastics, pesticides, dioxin and hydrocarbons can promote the epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of adult-onset disease in future generation progeny following ancestral exposure during the critical period of fetal gonadal sex determination. This study examined the actions of the pesticide methoxychlor to promote the epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of …
The State government on Wednesday informed the Kerala High Court that it had been decided to set up a well-equipped rehabilitation village for endosulfan victims in Kasaragod. The village would have facilities for providing continuous treatment and vocational training to the victims. In a statement, the government said that at …
Federal wildlife refuges in the Northwest and Hawaii will phase out a class of pesticides that are chemically similar to nicotine because they pose a threat to bees and other pollinators key to crop growth. The region covering Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Hawaii is the first in the agency to …
Scientific investigations into the outbreak of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) in West Bengal, which has claimed 105 lives since June, have revealed a pesticide has been found “above minimum safe limits” in the chemical analysis of litchi samples from Malda, but asserted that it was too early to “confirm its …
Nearly 60 peacocks were found dead in Chitur village of Lingala Ghanapur mandal early on Monday morning. The peacocks died as a result of drinking poisonous water. It is learnt the farmers in the area used pesticides in the fields and the peacocks which drank the water in which the …
