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 shortage of fertilisers is proving to be a major cause for the current peasant unrest in Bangladesh. Farmers, unable to grow the region's main rice crop this season, demonstrated before the district collector's office in North Bengal to voice their protest. They are also demanding a fair price for …
Bangladesh is in the grip of a crisis, us,farmers take to the streets, block roads, snatch fertiliser'tonsignments,and even set ablaze government offices and the residences of political leaders. They are irked at the recent steep hike in fertiliser prices: a 50 kg bag ofchemical fertiliser has doubled from US $5.75 …
P D BAPNA is the owner of a 20-ha sapota (cheeku or sapodilla plum) orchard in the Dahanu area of Maharashtra. Back in the '60s, like other growers, Bapna used chemical fertilisers. But in 1975, after his plants became weak and prone to disease, "perhaps because of the over-exploitation of …
AGRICULTURAL scientists and economists warn farm subsidies are leading to the wasteful use of resources such as land and water. Highlighting the grave consequences of electricity and fertiliser subsidies, they suggest any decision on public funding for agriculture should be based on an environmental cost-benefit analysis for sustainable use of …
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 removal of subsidies on phosphatic and potash fertilisers this year has led to an almost three-fold price increase and a sharp drop in their consumption, according to the annual review of the Fertiliser Association of India. Warns an association spokesperson, "If the trend continues, the yield and quality of …
DO PRICES determine increase in use of fertilisers, which are heavily subsidised by the government, in India? Fifty-six-year-old Madhusudan Reddy, who owns 50 ha in Chaganur village in Karnataka's Bellary district, disagrees. "I use the same quantity of fertilisers I did before the government increased their prices two years ago," …
WHILE it has become fashionable to talk of ecological economics, minus the jargon, the subject simply attempts to calculate the full cost, which includes environmental costs, that the society should pay for producing a commodity. And that is where it differs from everyday market economics -- it takes into account …
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 …
ENVIRONMENTALISTS are concerned that plans by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to provide Cambodia with a US $3.78 million aid package, includes supply of 30 tonnes of insecticides worth US $800,000. Japan Tropical Forest Action Network, an NGO, reports two of the chemical fertilisers are diazinon and sumicidin, which are …
PAMPERING APPLES Subsidies for apple growers in Himachal Pradesh, 1985-86 to 1990-91. Rs (in crores) HORTICULTURE DEPARTMENT Medicines against scab disease Foot sprayers Power sprayers Insecticides Transport of timber from outside the state 4.06 0.18 0.41 0.17 1.05 FOREST DEPARTMENT Concessional timber for packing crates 47.32 HPMC Concessions on cartons …
CRATES for one hectare of tomatoes, which is grown as an off-season crop in Himachal Pradesh, require wood from 10 ha of chir pine forest, says R V Singh, former director general of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education. Tomatoes -- as well as peas and beans -- …
BANANAS are thirsty plants, and farmers in the Jalgaon area of Maharashtra -- who produce 10,00,000 tonnes of the state"s annual banana output of 17,00,000 tonnes -- have literally begun mining for water. Groundwater levels in the area have fallen from 22 m in 1970 to 60 m. Baliram Borawale, …
FARMERS in the orange-growing regions of Warud and Morshi in Amravati district of Maharashtra refer to the area as "the California of Vidarbha." According to the directorate of horticulture, of the 36,800 ha under orange cultivation in the state in 1989-90, 29,000 were in Amravati and Nagpur districts. To keep …
GEOGRAPHICAL SPREAD Areas earmarked in the Five-Year Plans Mango Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, West Bengal, Karnataka, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Goa Citrus Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Assam, other NE states Litchi Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh Guava Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, …
WHEN GOD forbade Adam and Eve from eating the apples from the Tree of Knowledgehe probably had environmental interests in mind. But Eve couldn"t resist the temptationand neither could Adam. Too bad. The price for their folly is still being paid. The Indian governmenttooit seemscan"t fight temptation. Encouraged by successes …
MORE than 70 new chemicals are registered every hour in the US alone. The public - battered and bemused by daily press reports about the dangers of smoking, pesticides, pollution and food additives - looks to scientists to pronounce on the safety of this rising chemical tide. But the scientists …
AT 52, Ramachandra S Hegde is a broken man. After more than 25 years as a primary schoolteacher in Karnataka, he recently became a headmaster of a primary school in Kumta, about 150 km from Mangalore. But, at the fag end of his career, this talented teacher and rural technologist …
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 …
