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 …
Research indicates that there is still a place for that much maligned pesticide DDT, in controlling the Tse-tse fly, a vector in the debilitating disease trypanosomiasis -- the dreaded sleeping sickness. Scientists from Britain's Natural Resources Institute, who studied the impact of DDT in Zimbabwe, found that the pesticide had …
A CLASS of pesticides called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has pushed European otter to the brink of extinction. A Dutch study now reveals why: PCBs have a serious effect on this aquatic animal's reproductive cycle. PCBs have also been known to cause patches on the skin, immunotoxicity, kidney damage, weight loss …
RESEARCH at the Delhi-based Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) have developed an ecofriendly and biodegradable insecticide from marigold flowers. Scientists have found that 2 compounds present in the flower -- alphateriophene, or alpha-T, and erythrosin-B -- are effective against the larvae of the malaria-causing Anopheles mosquito as …
INSECTS destroy a major part of standing crop, damaging the predominantly agrarian economy of the developing countries. That traditional pesticides are indisputably environmentally detrimental is an established fact. The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), in Nairobi, Kenya, directed by scientists from the developing world was founded in …
Three agricultural pesticides most widely used in the US will be reviewed for potential cancer risks by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Two of the pesticides -- atrazine and cyanazine -- are used on corn crops, while the third, simazine, is used on fruits and vegetables. Ciba-Geigy and DuPont are …
Since September this year, panchayats of Maharashtra's Nagpur region have complained that even large quantities of pesticides have had no effect on the brown aphid (delfocidas) pest rampant among their paddy fields. Their experience is shared by farmers the world over. Pests, weeds and diseases are increasingly developing genetic resistance …
SURVIVAL is still the most important factor in the lives of millions in the developing countries. Now is the time to look carefully at all its aspects. Recalling Darwin, learning to live with errors and malfunctions is essential to survival. Now, we are struggling to correct the previous errors of …
INDIA"S Green Revolution in the"60s had a baneful side to it too- the use of high-yielding seed varieties led to a spurt in fertiliser and pesticide application. This was especially true of rice, the staple food of a majority of Indians and other Asian people. The continent accounts for over …
Integrated pest management (IPM) is a method of reducing the use of pesticides by farmers by promoting alternative pest control practices such as the use of resistant rice varieties, dependence on natural enemies to control pests (also known as biological control), better water, weed, and fertillser managernent, and better cultivation …
"I have wasps to take care of the yellow stemborers and green leaffolders, spiders to control the brown planthopper and ducks and tadpoles to feed on the menacing golden apple snail. So why should I use insecticides?" says Sesinando Masajo, a 61-year-old farmer from the Laguna province of the Philippines, …
SINCE Rachel Carson's Silent Spring , written in 1962, tried to wake the world to the damage pesticides can do both to human health and the environment, the limitations of chemical pesticides have been well documented. Five million people we poisoned by pesticides, of which some 40,000 die each year. …
DESPITE efforts to prevent the spread of malaria, the disease strikes as many as 300 to 500 million people each year and claims over a million lives. Not only have the mosquitoes that carry the malaria parasite -- Plasmodium -- become increasingly tolerant of pesticides, the parasite"s defence mechanism also …
Indian agriculturists have evolved indigenous technology for producing stable and cost-effective biopesticides. These cellular pesticides, based on mutations of the toxic Bt gene, are cheaper and more stable in field conditions than the conventional patented Bt gene-based biopesticides being manufactured by multinational corporations. Besides, the conventional pesticides require repeated spraying …
AFTER threshing, rice husk is considered fit only for burning. But scientists at the Delhi-based Shriram Institute of Research have been able to extract an industrially useful product from the ashes of rice husk. They have perfected a process that transforms the waste into an extremely pure form of silica …
TANZANIA will be invaded by red locusts if preventive measures are not taken on a war footing. The country's agriculture minister, Jackson Makwetta, says large colonies of locusts were spotted in the traditional breeding areas. The "red army" is expected to move into Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire. Makwetta …
WHEN German local and regional environment organisations formed the Bund fur Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (German Association for Nature Conservation and the Protection of the Environment), their main objective was to strengthen their influence on the environment policy of the federal government. Today, BUND has become a major opinion leader …
If you live in Delhi, chances are that you are drinking more DDT and other pesticides with your milk than is good for you. A survey conducted by the Karnal-based National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) in the Capital has revealed that the pesticide contamination in milk supplied by the Delhi …
THERE are some books in the market that need to be reviewed, if only to reveal a racket of converting doctorate theses into so-called specialised books that at times cost the earth. If you thought every little scientific book provided something new, this book is a must for you. This …
WITH THE passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the US House of Representatives and Senate, US President Bill Clinton has scored a major victory. However, to ensure approval of the agreement, which will gradually eliminate almost all trade and investment restrictions between the US, Canada and …
Women farm labourers are more vulnerable to pesticide poisoning -- and they don't even know it. A survey of 13 states conducted by the Consumers Forum, in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Consumer Organisations and the All India Women's Conference, found that pesticide-induced headaches, vomiting and uneasiness were common …
