-AFP   A French court on Monday found US agro giant Monsanto legally responsible for the poisoning of a farmer with one of its herbicides in 2004, in a verdict that could have global implications.  "Monsanto is responsible for Paul Francois's suffering after he inhaled the Lasso product ... and must entirely compensate him," said the judgement from the court in the southeastern city of Lyon.  "This concerns farmers around the world," said the...

-The Telegraph   The mass mortality of fish in the Karala river has blown the lid off a toxic secret: poison is used to kill some of the catch that makes its way to several homes in Bengal. In the face of raids by officials to seize dead fish in Jalpaiguri, some fishermen today admitted that they use a pesticide called Thiodan to kill fish that are eventually sold in the markets. Lab tests...

Endosulfan, the pesticide which is widely believed to be responsible for thousands of deaths, diseases and devastation, was able to save its own life largely because of India’s questionable efforts at global forums. The controversial pesticide has been in news for a long time because of its harmful effects on humans, wild life and the environment. Obviously the $100 million industry is going out of the way to defend the...

The upsurge in the use of the toxic pesticide endosulfan, targeted for prohibition by the international community, illustrates one of the dilemmas of intensive agriculture in Argentina and Latin America in general. "There is always a natural solution," insists farmer Alicia Alem, a member of an Argentine cooperative that produces cereal and forage crops without chemical fertilisers or pesticides. "In terms of wheat, for example, the cooperative gets exactly the same yield...

Endosulfan, a powerful 50-year-old insecticide sometimes called DDT’s “cousin,” was officially banned last week at an international pesticides meeting in Geneva. Partial exemptions were created for India, however; the chemical may be used on some crops there for up to 10 years. Many countries outlawed endosulfan long ago because it is dangerous to farmworkers, accumulates in the body, kills beneficial insects and persists in the environment. The United States is an...