Biological PC

Question raised in Rajya Sabha on charging stations for electric vehicles, 20/07/2022

Question raised in Rajya Sabha on charging stations for electric vehicles, 20/07/2022. The number of electric vehicles in the country is 13,34,385 (excluding data of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Lakshadweep, which is not available in Vahan 4) as on 14-07-2022 and a total of 2826 Public Charging Stations …

Quality of Research: Only a fig leaf

I n 1996-97, the government of India claims that it spent Rs 333.8 crore on protection and sustainable use of the environment. Our research shows that in 1998-99, the government spent some Rs 474.81 crore. These may be inadequate sums of money, but by themselves they are not small. How …

Peanuts for ecology

If there is one thing true about India, it's that it is a diverse country. Economically, technologically and environmentally. Some are very rich, some are very poor. There are some who use modern technologies, and there are others who still use technologies that were used a millennium ago. And, of …

Natural pesticides

The widespread attack of the mite Eriphyes guerreronis is threatening coconut plantations in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. However, according to researchers, trees raised with organic manure or biopesticides have not been affected by the mites. The scientific community has propagated foliar spraying and root feeding of pesticides, but it has …

When ducks get to work

japanese organic farmer Takao Furuno has hit upon a novel idea to make his paddy fields flourish: soon after the rice seedlings are planted, he releases ducks into the fields. "Well, it has been called a

The herbal coming!

here is some good news for all Indians who are tired of hearing how the country's biodiversity and indigenous knowledge is used by

Plagued plantations

three decades of pesticide use in the Peruvian highlands has unsettled the balance of the Andean ecosystem. The rise in the number of cases of poisoning among farmers, declining soil fertility and reports of pests becoming resistant to agrochemicals has made the "technological revolution' in Peru far from successful. There …

The benefits of organic farming far outweigh the costs

What is organic farming? In organic farming natural materials are used. It lays emphasis on soil fertility and plant health. The idea is, ‘the heal thier the soil (which includes the health of all the soil organisms such as worms and the micro organisms), the healthier the plant’. In this …

Spiderman comes to town

H e came to town to talk about the bees and ants. In the process, he conquered the hearts of the children. Adults, however, were a little sceptical. Georges Brossard, a Canadian national of French origin, is a man on a mission. His message is simple: think small, and see …

Peaches and pests

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 …

Muscled out?

Locusts might become endangered following the recent approval of the world's first bioinsecticide against the insects. Named Green Muscle, the fungal pesticide spray, made by South Africa (SA)-based Biological Control Products has been cleared for sale in the country. The spray contains spores of Metarhizium anisopliae, a fungus that invades …

Cause for alarm

biological pesticides offer a more sound means of controlling insect pests than synthetic chemicals. A bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis ( b t) produces a crystalline protein that is highly toxic to moth larvae. At a time, when nearly 500 species of arthropods have evolved insecticide resistance to other pesticides, there …

Nature s own pest controller

the funnel web spider is feared throughout Australia. One of the world's deadliest spiders, its venom can kill humans. But Glenn King, a biochemist, and Merlin Howden, a pharmacologist from the University of Sidney have concluded that the spider could be the means of a pesticide that does not harm …

Checking a menace

A VIRUS that can be used to manage Helicoverpa armigera, the insect whose caterpillars or larvae have long ravaged crops, has been developed by entomologists at the Crop Protection Division of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Andhra Pradesh. Helicoverpa has for long caused damage to …

Fungal weapon

SCIENTISTS have successfully tested a biological pesticide for the first time on grasshoppers and locusts which ravage crops across Africa. They have developed sprays containing fungal spores which are as effective as synthetic pesticides and harmless for beneficial insects. Researchers from Benin, Niger and Britain spent the past seven years …

Green killer

Environmental contamination and high production cost could now be eliminated with the discovery of a botanical pesticide using Jatropha curcas (tubang-bakod), say scientists from the Central Development Research Institute> based in Baltac, Ilocos Norte, the Philippines. Pesticide from Jatropha can be easily prepared by farmers themselves. The formulated product is …

Fighting fungi

Investigators in France have shown that bioengineered plants that disrupt fungal cell walls are resistant to fungal pests and they can reduce or eliminate the need for chemical fungicides. The group has devel oped a transgenic rapeseed ( Brassica napus ) that produces a chitinase gene at high levels enabling …

To kill a mocking pest

A DELICATE plant, producing yellow flowers -Calceolaria andina is proving to be the nemesis for a notoriously high-resistant variety of tobacco whitefly, Bemisia tabaci. Two chemicals from the plant, which grows high on the Andean slopes, has been found to be fatal for the B- biotype species of the pest. …

Moneymakers

The German chemicals group BASF is using its plastics manufacturing technologies to improve mclicine-making process. The echnology replaces the tradi 3-stage manufacturing se e with a single process in the active ingredients are d and shaped as pliable Is, passed through rollers, and ed into tablets. Drugs, howew ? usually …

Seeds that discourage insects

Every year, millions of tonnes of food are lost to the most voracious and abundant of animals -- the ubiquitous insects. Whether seeds be present on the plant or stored away carefully, insects worm their way into them, making them inedible. But humans have built up an impressive arsenal of …

Complementarity begets productivity

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 …

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