The precarious geopolitics of phosphorous

Fatally fixated

Fossil fuel combustion has increased the amount of nitrogen oxides, which are blamed for the greenhouse effect. Large-scale cultivation of legumes, which support nitrogen-fixing bacteria, have also increased nitrogen in the soil. Fertilisers improved global food production in the last century by increasing the amount of nitrogen available to plants.

Unproductive augmentation

Despite environmental pressure against the use of chemical fertilisers, the deadly substances continue to be used unabated across the globe. At the end of the 20th century an average of 91 kgs of fertilisers were used for every hectare of cropland -- an increase of more than a third since the mid 1970s. This masks huge variations, from just one kg in Rwanda or Mongolia, to more than 700 kgs in Switzerland.

Back in f(l)avour

Several myths are linked to the origin of rice -- a grain traditionally associated with the farming community in most cultures. According to one, God gave Kachin tribe of Myanmar the first seed of rice and then directed it to the wondrous country where it bloomed. In Bali, it is believed that the Hindu god Vishnu caused the Earth to give birth to rice while a Chinese myth speaks of the cereal as being a gift from animals.

Trouble in frying pan

Over heating oil in a frying pan may have more serious consequences than just a spoilt meal, suggests research conducted in Canada on chemicals used in non-stick frying pans. Heat breaks down some of the compounds used to persistent and potentially toxic chemicals whose long-term environmental effects are unknown, say studies. Scott Mabury, researcher at the University of Toronto, points the accusing finger at 'fluoropolymers', like Teflon and its chemical cousins. They are the likely source of toxic chemicals such as trifluoracetic acid (TFA), which lingers long in the environment.

FOLLOW UP

A division bench of the Gujarat high court recently directed the Gujarat State Fertilisers Company Limited (GSFC), Vadodara, to take proper steps to ensure the upkeep of the wall which seperates the GSFC and the residential complex. The direction was given so that the wall could withstand pressure of heavy rains in future. The order came in a suo moto pollution case against the GSFC.