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 …
I write this to provoke, not to insult. It is increasingly important to understand that in the modern world, the term "sound science" is becoming the choicest of insults. Science is a passive hireling, not to bring policy reform, but to delay, prevaricate and to dismiss. And scientists are hired …
the United States Environmental Protection Agency (epa) has been hauled to court for allegedly trying to weaken the rules that protect endangered species against pesticides. Conservation and pesticide watchdog groups filed a lawsuit against the agency on January 15. The activists contend that epa is acting on the advice of …
The armyworm has devastated crops in several provinces of Pakistan. Sindh is plagued by the pest, which has damaged 25 per cent of the rice crop and a substantial part of the banana crop. Even as Sindh is expected to face a crop deficit of 100,000 tonnes, the current wheat …
The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) was set up to investigate the issue of pesticides in cold drinks, and everyone told us that we had reached a dead end. Parliamentarians aren't interested, we were told. The issues were too technical, too contentious. Cynics added that with elections round the corner, the …
THE Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) has corroborated the Centre for Science and Environment's (CSE) claims of pesticide content in soft drinks. The issue exploded last August. The CSE's investigation found shocking levels of pesticide residue in 12 brands of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo owing to contaminated groundwater sources (Frontline, August 16, …
farmed salmon have significantly higher levels of toxic contaminants than salmon from the wild, scientists from the us have found. Levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins and pesticides are on an average 10 times higher in farmed salmon as compared to their wild counterparts. These chemicals not only threaten the immune …
extensive use of Gaucho, a pesticide containing the active substance imidacloprid, has killed hundreds of thousands of bees in France, as per a report. "The results are alarming. The treatment of crops by Gaucho poses risk to bees in several stages of life,' concludes the 108-page report, compiled on behalf …
the Spices Board India (sbi) in Kochi, Kerala, has identified 43 villages in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh to grow residue-free chillies using the integrated pest management (ipm) system. The move is a part of the board's strategy to encourage farmers to totally avoid the use of chemicals in the …
excessive use of pesticides, rodenticides and fertilisers is chiefly responsible for the arsenic crisis in West Bengal and Bangladesh. This controversial theory has been recently proposed by P K Sikdar and S Banerjee of the Kolkata-based Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, and the Centre for Study of …
This briefing paper on pesticide contamination and food safety makes a strong case for formulating standards for food and drinks and revamping the pesticide regulatory framework in the country. It discusses the need for legally enforceable standards addresses the larger issue of institutional reform in the governance of food safety …
Every nation that registers and uses pesticides must do its own homework and ensure that exposure to each pesticide, under no circumstances, exceeds the acceptable daily intake. Keeping toxins within strict limits not injurious to health is the true mandate of safety. Without this, the use of pesticides would be …
The world awoke to pesticide contamination of food years ago. As early as 1953, a resolution at the World Health Assembly expressed concern about "the increasing use of various chemical substances in food'. This inaugurated a process that led, two years later, to the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food …
There is never any end to learning. And so, surprises. We have learnt, over 20 years, that environmental governance in India is lackadaisical. Still, the extent of irresponsibility never fails to surprise. Some months ago we did a study on pesticides in bottled water. We were really looking at pesticides …
the strong case against endosulfan just got stronger. Environmental Health Perspectives (ehp), a peer-reviewed scientific journal of international repute, has published the Ahmedabad-based National Institute of Occupational Health's (nioh) damning research on the organochlorine pesticide in its December 2003 issue. Not only does this vindicate nioh, fresh doubts have also …
organic reservoir: Spreading an ultra-thin layer of organic molecules on the surface of reservoirs could prevent millions of cubic metres of water evaporating each year, according to Flexible Solutions, a Canadian company. It is the first to commercialise the technique. Field tests of the technology conducted in several countries show …
It is well established that exposure to pesticides can result in cancer, liver damage and nervous disorders. Now, researchers have zeroed down on another harmful effect of the toxic chemicals. Scientists from the us-based Emory University School of Medicine have found that several commonly used pesticides are toxic to the …
