Another Kasaragod

Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa in December announced that his government would consider banning endosulfan. The highly toxic pesticide is banned in over 70 countries.

Cat coffee

The shiny, greenish-grey beans look no worse off for having passed through the Asian palm civet’s digestive system. “I can’t tell the difference between this coffee and my normal parchment coffee, but connoisseurs say it has a subtle nuttiness,” said septuagenarian coffee planter T S Ganesh, the only producer of this rare coffee in India. He calls it Kari Beck coffee, after the Kannada name for civet. “I can only say that it is very good coffee,” he added with a chuckle.

Organic matters

SOIL constantly undergoes changes—be it by growing crops, adding fertilizer, erosion or contamination. Scientists analyse as many as 50 properties of soil—including sand and organic carbon content, porosity and essential nutrients like nitrogen and iron—to monitor its health and predict if the land is on the verge of degradation by soil erosion. Fertile land, for example, contains high amount of organic matter, nutrients and moisture, whereas eroded land fares poorly on the indicator scale.

Farmers destroy DuPont’s GM rice

ABOUT 100 farmers in Karnataka destroyed a paddy field where multinational seed major DuPont was conducting field trials for genetically modified (GM) rice in collaboration with University of Agricultural Sciences Bangalore. The police have arrested 12 farmers for vandalism and trespassing.

Water yield estimates

Planning Commission (1982) 3,544 mcm: average annual yield 2,138 mcm: dependable yield 1,415mcm: usable yield National Water Development Agency (1989) 5,320 mcm: average annual yield 3,170 mcm: dependable yield 1,517 mcm: usable yield Goa’s expert panel (2000) 3,170 mcm: dependable yield 1,528 mcm: usable yield

Bee colonies collapse

Honey bees are the most valuable pollinators of crops. In the US, the value of bees as pollinators is estimated at $15-$20 billion annually.

Politics of mining

The promoters of privately owned mining companies in Bellary and Ananthapur, who used to fund the activities of political leaders are now important politicians.

Seeds of Strife

IT WAS yet another meeting in a series that began six years ago.

Games the Centre plays

And states fight back For the past five years, the Centre and the states have been fighting a battle over seed pricing with Delhi frequently changing the rules to outsmart state governments that had decided to clamp down on predatory pricing.

Ministry revokes coastal clearance

IT IS the end of the road for the 450 MW thermal power plant near Karwar in Karnataka.