-The Hindu Thiruvananthapuram: Farmers in Kerala can look forward to reducing their dependence on toxic chemicals for pest control. The Department of Agriculture has tied up with the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, to introduce pheromone traps in the State. The technology uses the sex pheromones of a particular pest against itself. Pheromones are hormones released by insects and Pests to attract the opposite sex for mating. The IICT has developed...

-The Hindu Trap crops are grown to attract insects or other organisms to protect main crops from pest attack. Protection may be achieved either by preventing the Pests from reaching the crop or by concentrating them in certain parts of the field where they can be destroyed. The principle of trap cropping rests on the fact that virtually all Pests show a distinct preference to a certain crop stage. Farmers are being...

-Down to Earth NSSO report shows half of India has no access to sanitation, drainage or waste disposal A national sample survey report, released on Thursday, reveals that a third of married couples in India do not have separate room to themselves, affecting their privacy and health. The 69th round of survey report of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) states that only 68 per cent rural households and 73 per cent of...

-The Week Manorama Online Broken hearts float down the Bhakra Main Line canal. Broken by the endless struggle with the land, with the weather, with the creditor. Broken by broken promises, broken by the honour they lost, broken enough to kill themselves. And, at the sluice gate at Khanauri village they slow down, looking up with unseeing eyes. And, from the bridge across the canal, the beating hearts they broke look...

-Live Mint Narendra Modi is set to form a panel to assess how to overhaul the 50 year-old Food Corporation of India, say sources About thirty miles from New Delhi, a stray dog walks among sacks of wheat rotting in a field. The grain is part of more than 3 million tonnes that India stores in the open exposed to Pests and damp, enough to feed Kenya. Simple plastic sheets at the site in...