Over 300 workers from the Hindustan insecticides Limited plant manufacturing Endosulfan near Kochi at Kerala organised a rally today to oppose the unscientific approach adopted by environmental NGOs to seek ban on Endosulfan. The workers demanded that their own experience and the farmers’ experience be taken into consideration as they work with the pesticide Endosulfan. Endosulfan was manufactured and used for more than 50 years across the world and continues to...

After Andhra Pradesh, damaged crops coupled with the fear of defaulting on loan repayment has come to haunt growers in Madhya Pradesh. In the first case of suicide by a farmer in the state in recent times, a 35-year-old agriculturist of Harrai village in Damoh district ended his life by consuming insecticide on Wednesday. Nandlal Yadav, the farmer, was depressed after the failure of two successive crops. In Andhra Pradesh,...

Affidavit before Kerala High CourtThe decision to conduct aerial spraying of Endosulfan over the cashew estates of the Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK) was taken on the basis of the recommendations of Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) and other institutions, according to an affidavit filed by the PCK before the Kerala High Court.In the affidavit, PCK Managing Director N.K. Manoj said the allegation that the aerial spraying of the insecticide was...

The issues relating to the victims of endosulfan, sprayed in the plantations of Kasargod district in Kerala, have snowballed once again. “Earthworms emerged from the soil, and, subsequently, died. Then birds came to eat the earthworms and they died as well.”   “Some termites were killed in a cotton farm sprayed with endosulfan. A frog fed on the dead termites, and was immobilised a few minutes later. An owl which flew over...

The indiscriminate use of fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides over the years has led to deterioration of soil quality and crop productivity in India. According to a study conducted by the central soil water conservation research and training institute (CSWCRTI), Dehra Dun, about 1 millimetre of top soil is lost every year due to erosion. This leads to a total soil loss of 5,334 million tonnes annually, at an average rate...