A close hard look

Anti bodies

EVERY year, from August 1-7 during the World Breastfeeding Week, there is considerable hype about the usefulness of breast milk over bottle milk. But what if breast milk is full of pesticides -- as it is in Delhi -- capable of suppressing infants' immune systems? Scientists have mainly focussed on pesticides as a cause for cancer and neurological disorders. Latest research,

It's official now

Oregon shares first pesticides report after a nine-year political battle, the state of Oregon in the us has released its first accounting of pesticides use. Over 40 million pounds (18 million kgs) of pesticides, fumigants, herbicides and insecticides were used in the state's land and water bodies in 2007 alone.

Parched ground

Maharashtra in the grip of severest drought since 1972 maharashtra seems to be heading towards a drought-year. On July 9, the state government declared a 'drought-like' situation in 16 districts of the state. The Maharashtra cabinet took this decision in view of the below-average rainfall in many regions of the state that has led to crop loss, delayed sowing, acute drinking water and power shortage.

Surrogate salesmen

Pesticides thrusted on unsuspecting farmers

Half-baked

on july 3,50 Filipino ngos demanded that endosulfan should be banned. This came after a passenger ship "illegally" carrying 9 tonnes of the insecticide capsized off the central Philippines in a typhoon on June 21. Rescue operation on board the Princess of Stars was stopped after the decision to refloat the ship. Activists have expressed fear of a disaster if the tank carrying endosulfan leaks. The Philippines government for the time being has put a ban on consumption of seafood caught in the area.

What a waste

as a part of a centrally-sponsored scheme non-recommended pesticides were being distributed to farmers in Rajasthan. Farmers were being forced to buy unnecessary pesticides as a part of the subsidy package under the National Horticulture Mission (nhm). These chemicals have not been approved for use in the crops that were being cultivated in the area.

Pesticide causes blindness in fish in Punjab

carp, the freshwater fish species, are going blind in Punjab. The reason, a study reveals, is a pesticide used in rice fields nearby. Monocrotophos, the pesticide, causes a cataract-like condition reducing the economic value of the fish, said Punjab University researchers who carried out the study.

Back biting is locusts' natural behaviour

locusts move in swarms to save their butts. Literally, say researchers from the us, the uk and Australia. They are a menace for crops, because they move around in swarms. But their collective movement is hardly a sign of unity.

Nicotine-based pesticides kill bees

the Baden-Wrttemburg province in Germany has lost 60 per cent of its honey bee population to a newer generation of nicotine based pesticides in a span of a few months. The German Research Centre for Cultivated Plants has found that most of the dead bees it examined were killed because of clothianidin, a pesticide that belongs to the nicotine group called neonicotinoid. After the findings came to light, the country banned eight pesticides of which five belong to the neonicotinoid group.