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 …
the seeds of a novel programme to reduce the rice-wheat predominance in Punjab's cropping pattern have been planted. The state recently launched a multi-crop, multi-year contract farming programme. It seeks to convince Punjab's farmers - who currently follow the rice-wheat cropping pattern - to switch over to alternative crops. The …
'corporate Responsibility' has died a fancy death at the altar of public relations. A recent chemical analysis of branded packaged drinking water (commonly called bottled water) conducted by the Pollution Monitoring laboratory of Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment has brought out a horror story (see: gulp). All the major …
intensive, industrial-scale farming may be damaging one of the very natural resources that successful farming requires: bees that help in pollination. A study by scientists at the us-based Princeton University found that native bee populations plummet as agricultural intensity goes up. In farms studied in and around the Sacramento Valley …
A new seed policy is on the anvil in Brazil. Why is it controversial? Farming communities and non-governmental organisations (ngos) working closely with farmers in Brazil are worried about the set of new seed laws the government is considering. The bill (Production, Marketing and Control of Seeds), proposed about two …
a recent study could have broad implications for farmers' ability to stop pests from becoming resistant to pesticides. Scientists from the us-based North Carolina State University have found that in the us, cotton pests mature feeding on corn all summer before moving towards south to munch cotton in the autumn. …
For the first time, a study has linked human exposure to pesticides with Parkinson's disease (PD). The actual cause of PD remains a mystery till date, despite intense research about the same. Over the years, the disease has become widespread in many countries, with its symptoms ranging from stiff movements …
RIGHTS ISSUE: A patent on atta chakkis (flour mills). It sure was unexpected. But it's been granted. The latest victim of the patent rights regime is the Asian traditional knowledge of producing atta. The US patent office has given patent rights to Nebraska-based ConAgra Inc for the "method for producing …
The organisation Californians for Alternatives to Toxics (cats) has sued the state's department of pesticide regulation (dpr) for not following the California Environmental Quality Act. The petitioner alleges that dpr has not reviewed the impacts of pesticides widely used in the Sierra Nevada amphibian habitats. This, it contends, has led …
In 1957, Sri Lankan naturalist Parakrama Kirtisinghe published a monograph titled The Amphibia of Sri Lanka. In it, he recorded the presence of 35 species on the island nation. Over the next three and a half decades, with new species being discovered on a fairly regular basis, this number had …
a study conducted on a very large-scale once again proves that pesticide exposure at home increases the risk of leukaemia during childhood. This was the finding of a study conducted by researchers from us-based University of California, California department of health services and Stanford University School of Medicine, usa. During …
German pharmaceutical giant Bayer A G has disclosed plans to use data collected by testing pesticides on human beings. The tests, which came in for severe criticism, were conducted by the company in 1998. But Bayer has also announced that it will not be reviving trials on humans, which are …
Perseverance pays. With the Malaysian government deciding to ban the herbicide paraquat, a long-standing campaign of environmental pressure groups has finally proved successful. Earlier, a wave of concern was raised by non-governmental organisations about the harmful effects of the chemical. The herbicide is used on bananas, cocoa, cotton, rubber and …
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (pops), signed by India on May 14, 2002, has expectedly raised the chemical manufacturers' hackles. The pact seeks to regulate the use of the world's most toxic substances, covering 12 of the deadliest chemicals. Interestingly, the industry is not so shaken by the …
I happened to be in Hirekur taluk in Haveri district of Karnataka to attend an Independence Day flag hoisting function this year. Farmers dominated the gathering. Not surprisingly, all talk seemed centred around the Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton experiment in the state. Pleased with my evident interest in their talk, …
See Score Card Raw material sourcing phase To rate the companies on the raw material sourcing phase, grp used the following indicators: the quality of input salt, transportation of salt, self-sourcing of water (water harvesting) and the use of renewable and clean fuels. The Indian caustic-chlorine industry has performed poorly …
Pondicherry-based Chemfab Alkalis Ltd (cal) has been rated as the greenest caustic-chlorine company in India. With an overall score of 46.7 per cent, it has been given the Three Leaves Award. Set up in 1985 by Krishnamurthy Rao, a technical expert, cal set the trend by going in for membrane …
Although there has been a belated shift from the polluting mercury cell technology to the membrane cells, mercury pollution in India is still very high. India does not produce mercury and relies completely on imports. Between 1998-2001, the annual mercury imports stood at 170-190 tonnes, which is 10 per cent …
It’s a Catch-22 situation. How does one rate an industry where the pollution is minimal at the production plant and peaks the moment the product leaves the factory gates? How does one rate an industry that is the mother of all chemical industries? How does one rate an industry that …
