Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
Genetically-engineered corn, soybeans, and cotton now account for the majority of acres planted to these three crops. A model was developed that utilizes official, U.S. Department of Agriculture pesticide use data to estimate the differences in the average pounds of pesticides applied on GE crop acres, compared to acres planted …
Anti-pesticide council to meet Prime Minister THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Various environmental groups and activist groups are spearheading a campaign for a total ban on the production and marketing of Endosulfan in India. Their efforts have got a boost with the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants considering a proposal for inclusion of …
Occupational exposure to pesticides is very common among workers in the agricultural sector in developing countries. The study suggests that pesticide use is often unscientific at all levels of use-from the selection of chemicals and handling practices to averting behaviour. This results in health damages to the extent of Rs. …
The endosulfan tragedy which occurred in Kasaragod district of Kerala, India is now well known. It is considered by many experts in the field of pesticide toxicity as one of the worst pesticide disasters to happen to a region and its people. The tragedy occurred for various reasons, starting with …
DROUGHT conditions triggered a pest attack in 12 paddy growing districts of Orissa. The swarming caterpillars (Spodoptera mauritia) ruined crops on 89,000 hectares (ha) of the four million ha under paddy cultivation in the state. Sambalpur district was the worst affected; paddy crops on nearly 33,000 ha were destroyed by …
KALPETTA: With the season of butterfly migration nearing, nature lovers and experts are a worried lot. Mindless use of pesticides and chemicals for farming in the district causes widespread destruction of the butterfly population, according to environmentalists.
Pesticides, despite their known toxicity, are widely used in developing countries for agricultural purposes. The objective of this study was to find various patterns of hardware use for spraying of insecticides, prevalent storage practice adopted by the user, types of personal protective equipments used for the handling of chemicals; to …
Oxidative stress status and Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity were studied in blood samples obtained from 61 agricultural workers engaged in spraying organophosphorus (OP) insecticides in the mango plantation, with a minimum work history of one year, in the age range of 12-55 years. Controls were age-matched, unexposed workers, who never had …
Animal studies have demonstrated that low paraoxonase-1 (PON1) status (i.e., low catalytic efficiency and/or low plasma PON1 activity) is associated with neurotoxic effects after exposure to several organophosphate (OP) insecticides. However, few human studies have investigated associations between PON1 status and intermediate end points, such as serum cholinesterase [butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) …
This paper examines the effectiveness of damage control mechanisms to reduce crop losses from agricultural pests. It uses data from a sample of Cole crop (Cauliflower and Cabbage) growing households in the Bhaktapur district of Nepal to study the impact of pesticides on agriculture production. The results suggest that the …
CH Prashanth Reddy / Hyderabad August 07, 2009, 0:07 IST The Indian pesticides industry is eagerly looking forward to August 15. Not for the usual celebration of the Independence Day, but for a different reason. It expects the monsoon to recover by this time. If not, its bottom line this …
There is need for both organic and inorganic food The findings of a study sponsored by the British Food Standards Agency, that organic food is no healthier and provides no significant nutritional benefit when compared with conventionally produced food, may have irked the proponents of organic agriculture but it comes …
Organophosphates include insecticides like malathion, parathion and fenthion, which are widely used in developing countries like India. The pesticides inhibit the activity of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase. The enzyme breaks down the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which transmits impulses from brain and to the body. Breakdown of acetylcholine signifies the end of a …
The Centre on Friday informed Parliament that the use of the DDT other than in eradication of diseases like malaria and kala azar, is completely banned in the country. Replying to supplementaries raised by BJP member Rajiv Pratap Rudy in the Rajya Sabha, minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers, …
