'Ours is a model of natural farming'
A couple in Kerala demonstrate that barren land can be brought back to life without using any external inputs.
Anti bodies
Pesticides -- on the face of it, ordinary chemicals to contain pests, but in reality, deadly killers which could deliver the ultimate blow by …
Making of a nightmare
Pakistan faces trying times ahead, as insecticide resistant cotton pests threaten to devastate the country's fledgling economy
Pesticides banned
In the US, two widely-used pesticides are banned for their toxicity, even as it is used indiscriminately in India
The lotus effect
Water doesn't stick to lotus leaves. Nature has given the plant a self-cleaning mechanism. Crack the science of it, and you have the formula for …
Field report
Bt cotton farmers in Karnataka are an insecure and confused lot, and neither the government, nor Mahyco or the anti-Mahyco groups are any help at all
Not immune to threat
A compound commonly found in fungicides and pesticides causes irreversible damage to our immune system
Cotton tangle
Indian Bt cotton varieties show 75 per cent expression of the Bt gene, while elsewhere it is 100 per cent
Talking heads
While medics call for more research, government officials dismiss the finding saying "private studies are not enough"
Fatal exposure
Workers exposed to pesticides over a long period of time may run the risk of contracting cancer
Popular poisons
Toxic pesticides that contaminate the soil and enter the food chain need to be replaced with non-toxic ones. But research in this area is still …
Peacock isn't a pest...
...but chemical pesticides don't discriminate; 77 national birds die after eating sprayed grains
The street fight
Three years have passed since the day we released our first study on pesticides. The government reduced excise duty on soft drinks in this year's …
To kill a mocking pest
With pesticides no longer a viable means of controlling pests in most cases, the search for alternatives like bio-pesticides has proved that …
Chemical catastrophe
Pesticides can render birds sterile. Migratory birds can lose sense of direction. The recent history of the world is full of many such examples ess
Don't bite that apple!
The government's plans for boosting horticulture to earn foreign exchange do not take into account the hidden costs of deforestation, fertiliser …
Mothballing nitrogen
Some now ways of using fortilisers which will prevent nitrogen seepage into the water table
Governments alone cannot combat pollution
P K Ray an eminent immunotoxicologist and director, Bose Institute, Calcutta, spoke to Amit Nair on the various issues related to human health
No pesticides
Farmers can save crops without pesticides. And they can earn more in the deal. sopan joshi records a great change sweeping through Andhra …
Strengthening the act
Amendments proposed to the Insecticides Act seek to give it more muscle and check the growth of spurious pesticides
"Industries are not for the welfare of the consumer"
In the context of the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) study on pesticides in bottled water, Sharad Yadav, Union minister …
Kerala writes to Tamil Nadu over chemical contamination of vegetables
The state requires 30 lakh tonne of vegetables every year and produces only 40 per cent of its requirements, thus importing the rest from neighbours
Pesticides, food additives and scientific lies
Calculated Risks: The toxicity and human health risks of chemicals in our environment Joseph V Rodricks . Publisher: Cambridge University Press, …
The dirty dozen
Twelve of the deadliest toxins known to humans were recently the focus of a debate between 92 nations seeking ways and means to curb their use
Home they brought the poison
book>> Our toxic world, A guide to hazardous substances in our everyday lives • Script Aniruddha Sen Gupta • Illustrations Priya …