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Pesticides
New fungicide is eco-benign
Issue Date: Mar 15, 1993
TWO ISRAELI scientists say by pitting fungus against fungus, they have come up with an environmentally benign pesticide. A B Oppenheim and Ilan Chet of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem have found fungal enzymes called chitinases break down newly synthesised chitin, a major component of the cell wall of most fungi (Trends in Biotechnology, Vol 10, No 11).
Should customs concessions be withdrawn?
@ Issue Date: Feb 15, 1993
FEARING a proposal to withdraw customs duty concessions on pesticides will result in price increases, farmers' organisations in north India are heading for a showdown with the government and pesticide manufacturers. The proposal to end customs concessions relates to certain pesticides that are also produced in India.
Pesticide use results in dwindling exports
Issue Date: Nov 15, 1992
IN JUST two years, India's sesame seed exports have fallen dramatically -- by more than 75 per cent. While the government says this is due to higher prices in the domestic market, oilseed exporters contend it is because residues of banned pesticides have been detected in sesame seeds by importing countries, notably Japan and USA.
Nerve-racking experience
Issue Date: Oct 31, 1992
A GERALAN ship carrying a load of the dual-use chemical trimethyl phosphate (TMP) exported from India to
Syria is now stuck in Cyprus after Germany refused to
allow the cargo to be offloaded for onward shipment.
The USA is said to have asked the German authorities to
stop the shipment because it suspects the TMP, which
has been ordered to manufacture pesticides, will be used
by Syria to make nerve gas.
The 45-tonne shipment was
Working wonders with neem
Issue Date: Oct 15, 1992
THE MEDICINAL and pesticidal properties of neem are beginning to excite interest the world over. In India, medical treatises going back thousands of years indicate that the tree is a rich source of medicinal compounds.
Cleaner and costlier
Issue Date: Sep 30, 1992
THE BRITISH public is faced with a grim choice: clean versus cheap water. In a recently released document, The Cost of Quality, Ian Byatt, director general of water services, predicted the cost of water in Britain would double by 2005.
Poisoning out peanuts
Issue Date: Sep 30, 1992
Researchers at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-arid Tropics (ISRISAT) in Hyderabad find Indian farmers obtain lower groundnut yields than African farmers, due to pest damage. Indian farmers spray their crops at least seven times in a season, making it impossible for the prey species to recolonise the crop as quickly as the pests. African farmers rarely use chemical sprays. (Pesticide News, No 16)
Smelly pesticides
Issue Date: Jul 31, 1992
WHILE contaminated water has occupied centrestage in Udaipur for many years, the Pesticides India plant has been insidiously emitting odorous gases for almost as long. The plant manufactures pesticides, including phorate, all of which are highly toxic. While officials at the plant claim they have taken all possible precautions to prevent leakages, the local people have filed a case under Section 133 of the Indian Penal Code (for creating a public nuisance) and sought relocation of the plant.
The ACD of malaria control
Issue Date: Jun 30, 1992
WHY HAS the National Malaria Eradication Programme (NMEP) never really been able to contain the disease? The answer may finally be here. The Malaria Research Centre (MRC) in New Delhi has found that Anopheles culicifacies, the mosquito species responsible for 70 per cent of malaria in India and 80 per cent of the malaria control budget, is actually a complex combination of four species with different genetic characteristics.
