A Burning Pesticide Safety Question

Obsolete pesticides deserve special attention. They can negate all the good work done to promote pesticide safety. Consider the information at the following link:

http://milieukontakt.net/en/?p=547

The issue requires a series of preventive and contingent actions. The best manufacturers have integrated systems in place to manage obsolete pesticides in their systems of logistics. However, smaller units lack the resources and technology to dispose off obsolete pesticides without polluting the environment.

Obsolete pesticide management requires a multi-disciplinary approach. High peak formulation capacities help to prevent piling up of finished goods stocks. Marketing expertise is required to follow FIFO (first in first out) practices from factory to farm. Finally, all high-use areas need impervious holding areas in which unconsumed stocks can be degraded safely. These should be operated on industry bases, since it is not economically feasible for each brand to be sequestered separately. Incineration is also a capital-intensive process, and requires appropriate technology as well. 

Please post below if you have experience with obsolete pesticides, or if you can offer help to dispose them without harming people and the environment.

PPI >PHI for Pesticide Safety

Pollinators, especially honeybees, are equal creatures with humans, before God. Even non-believers must accept that we will starve without bio-diversity. Indians are at special risks because so much of our diet requires vegetable oils. We have never achieved self-sufficiency in this vital ingredient. Major oilseeds are cross-pollinated. There is no hope for us without honeybees. That is why I feel the view at the link below is misplace, though it is factually correct:

http://www.agweb.com/get_article.aspx?pageid=145970

I have nothing personal against any Pre-Harvest Interval. Certainly, we should observe them. I do wish the Plant Protection Adviser would do more to fix PHIs for all pesticides. However, a PHI is not enough. Humans do not feed on pollen, but honeybees have no other source of nutrition. It is inhuman to poison pollen with systemic pesticides. This is a death-warrant for honeybees. It is also a prescription for the continued impoverishment of rural India.

There is no time to lose. Pre-pollination intervals should be fixed for all systemic pesticides before the next mustard crop is sown in India. No systemic pesticide should be detectable in plant tissues once flowering starts. Certainly, aphids may attack the crop at this stage. There may be lepidoptera as well. We should only use the triad of Endogram, Endocel, and Endosulfan-tolerant Chrysoperla during the reproductive stage of a crop. Contact fungicides, especially sulphur formulations are available for fungal attacks.

Please voice your opinion today.

New Technology Directions for Pesticide Safety

Drift and dermal toxicity deserve more attention and resources for better pesticide safety. The pesticide industry is the worst victim of negligence in this respect. Please read the disturbing news at the following link:

http://www.gtweekly.com/blurbs/ticker/landmark-pesticide-case-decided

The pesticide industry will suffer the fate of Wall Street banks if the practice of demanding compensation for drift continues. I do not have altruistic motives alone in pressing for time-bound action plans to manage drift and dermal toxicity during pesticide application: these are matters of vital business interests.

Endogram and Endosulfan tolerant Chrysoperla are free of drift and dermal toxicity dangers suffered by their chemical cousins. However, what about Endocel? I have plans in this respect as well, but they need to be addressed with greater senses of urgency. This will be my major focus during the month starting tomorrow.

What do you think of drift and dermal toxicity during pesticide application in the field? Please offer some solutions, or let me know if you think that the seriousness is exaggerated. You can post below without disclosing your identity.

Pesticide Industry CSR for CCD

There is a new book on honeybees that I would like to recommend. Here is a link to it:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2008202268_fruitless28.html

We do not yet have reports of CCD in India, but could become victims at any time. However, I know of at least one farm I visited in July 2008 that no longer had hives, though it was a center of excellence in honeybee rearing until 2000. The majority of farms under intense pesticide covers no longer have any honeybees or other biodiversity conservation measures. 

CCD has devastated agriculture on both sides of the North Atlantic Ocean. This has led to knee-jerk reactions in countries such as Italy, France, and Germany, which have brought abrupt public and regulatory actions against neonicotinoids. The latter are closely linked to genetically modified crops, because seed treatments with neonicotinoids help keep resurgent sucking pests at bay. This is why the Indian pesticide industry should take the lead in combating CCD in pro-active manner.

Keeping pollen free of pesticide residues is the least we can do to keep honeybee mortality at bay. It will help if all farms that use pesticides keep honeybees as well. This will help to recover ecological balances in the event of CCD. Perhaps we should have a national bank of honeybees, and invest in programs to develop hardy and tolerant selections.

IPM during flowering is another cornerstone strategy to conserve the natural honeybee wealth of India. Endogram, Endocel, and Endosulfan-tolerant Chrysoperla makes a safe and effective triad of control measures that can keep pests at bay, and conserve honeybees at the same time.

Post below if you would like to deploy the Endogram, Endocel, and Endosulfan-tolerant Chrysoperla combination to vitalize crop yields and restore your ecology to its pristine state.

Global Action by Top Pesticide Professionals for Safety and Prosperity

Honeybee conservation is not just a matter of pesticide safety, but a platform for assertive global action to sustain agricultural productivity. Honeybees are central to crop yields and to biodiversity as well. Thriving colonies are incontrovertible pieces of evidence that farming is in balance. The absence of their foraging activities is a sign that surrounding rural communities must be impoverished.

Remediation is a vital strategy for all modern living. All farming operations disturb pristine eco-systems in their own ways. Yet, we cannot do without food, fiber, and biological sources of energy. All stakeholders can achieve consensus by taking effective steps to wipe our collective environmental footsteps clean. Rearing honeybees is one of the best ways to do this. That is why I commend the trend reported at the following link: 

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/851070?UserKey=

Here is a matter in which India can follow Scotland. All farmers should have apiaries. It is a useful source of supplementary income and nutrition for landless labor as well. Everyone in a village stands to gain if there is at least one vibrant hive. All farm families that have been affected by suicides and related tragedies can make new starts by starting honey production, and simultaneously providing for pollination of their crops.

Honey production and pesticide safety are inextricably linked. Honeybees cannot be limited to areas where pesticides are not used. Honeybees have to survive in the midst of pest management practices just like human beings. The Endogram, Endocel, and Endosulfan-tolerant Chrysoperla initiative seeks to achieve this harmony. It is an effective concept, and one which that needs your consideration. Please respond by posting below.

A Bourgeois View of Pesticide Safety

I am glad to know that honeybees thrive in Paris.  Here is a link to this unusual information:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aUzPpUDCkSKM&refer=europe

We need a similar situation in the hinterland of India. Honeybees are at the vanguard of sustainable agricultural productivity. The controversial spread of industrialization means that our fertile zones need special attention. 

Honeybee conservation lies at the heart of pesticide safety. It is not enough if Paris has honeybees. We need them for cross-pollination and for biodiversity as well.

Endogram, Endocel, and Endosulfan-tolerant Chrysoperla must be the IPM prescriptions once flowering starts in a crop. Systemic pesticides should be restricted to seed-dressing and to the vegetative phase of every crop.

Please post below and take position on this matter of vital national interest.

Stewardship and Unity for Pesticide Safety

I am pained to read the disturbing material at the following link:

http://www.panna.org/files/CBGSuesBayerOnBees20080825.pdf

Is this fair? What will happen if Indian entities begin to persecute our thriving pesticide industry in this fashion?

It is bad enough to be subject to pressures from biased regulators in other countries, but it is simply intolerable to be attacked by your own compatriots.

Germany has given birth to some of the leading pesticide companies in the world. Here is a link to a valuable historic account:

http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/journal_of_social_history/v039/39.4strikwerda.html

Germany supplies pesticides all over the world. It is most deserving of a special place in the pesticide history of the world. What should we do to stop vilification of esteemed colleagues?

Stewardship, for me, provides a comprehensive answer. Unity adds turbo power to individual stewardship attempts. Neonicotinoids and Endosulfan are both of German and European origins. It is for the pesticide industry to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and ensure safe and judicious use of all pesticides.

I propose that neonicotinoids are limited to seed treatment, while Endogram, Endosulfan, and Endosulfan-tolerant Chrysoperla are used to keep pests at bay during the crucial pollination period. This approach will meet the genuine concerns of all stakeholders.

Please post below and express your professional opinion. 

The CCD Challenge for Pesticide Safety

Apiaries in all farms that use pesticides serve multiple benefits. The honey is a source of vital nutrition for farm families, and a means of incremental income as well. Besides, honeybees at the individual farm level may have better immunity to viral and mite attacks than strains transported commercially over long distances. Here is a link which points in such a direction:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/2008-10-01/Vanishing-Bees-And-Colony-Collapse-Disorder.aspx

It is time to merge honeybees with IPM. Spray schedules need to change so that honeybees are not threatened. CCD also requires remediation. Endogram, Endocel, and Endosulfan-tolerant Chrysoperla form a profitable triad of pest management measures that can conserve honeybee populations at the same time.

I have launched a program for the use of Endogram, Endocel, and Endosulfan-tolerant Chrysoperla, with simultaneous apiary development. The program requires training in pesticide safety, remediation of contamination, and honey production.  The program has started in Northern India, and is available for extension anywhere. It takes about a year from start to making the program operational. You can avail of the pesticide safety benefits and economic gains by posting below. You can also write to sochiye.pesticidesafety@gmail.com

Embark today on a new journey towards pesticide safety and rural prosperity.

A European View of Pesticide Safety in 2030

"No more pesticides, only solutions copied from nature".

BASF is a pioneer of the pesticide industry. It has added market share inorganically, apart from assiduous growth of its own molecules. This is evidence that the corporation is in the world pesticide industry for the long haul.

Read what a senior company executive has to say about pesticides in the year 2030:  

http://www.pesticideinformation.eu/2008/09/an-industry-take-on-legislative-developments-in-the-eu/

What is your vision for the future of pesticide safety? Personally, I would like to see a larger role for biological forms of control, with reliance on chemicals that can work in harmony with nature. I see Endosulfan, an innovation of one of the legacy companies of BASF, as an ideal pesticide.

I value your opinion.

Let us work together for pesticide safety, sustainable farming, abundant food, natural fibers, unlimited energy, and agrarian prosperity.

Telemedicine for Pesticide Safety

Regulars on this web log, and my friends in Kutch will recognize the master-cultivator pictured on the left. Please see my post of August 07, 2008 for details on how Pratap Saparia combines new technologies with traditional methods for some of the best farming to be found anywhere.

Ravi Baug is an appropriate setting for this wonderful exposition of new and old, for the owners exemplify this enduring spirit which is unique, in my experience, to India.

Pratap Saparia is a symbol of the quandary faced by Indian rural marketers of this millennium. The days when farmers would hang on to our every word are over. Now they know more about agronomy than many technologists.

Health remains a major concern for all stakeholders in agriculture. The following link shows that even advanced economies are not free of concerns related to rural health:

http://www.agrisafe.org/

The Internet makes telemedicine possible. Rural communities are principal beneficiaries of telemedicine facilities. Here is a link for using the Internet to stay in touch with rural communities, and to serve them better:

http://www.elluminate.com/

My vision is to merge pesticide safety with integrated rural health. This is most resource-effective if executed on a distance format. I welcome your views. Please post below.

Pesticide Safety Lead

Remediation is a key element of pesticide safety. Stakeholders with opposing views on pesticide safety can come together on a common platform of water and soil decontamination.

Remediation is a strong point of Endosulfan. This pesticide is relatively easy to metabolize when it appears in non-target sites. We have a variety of chemical and organic methods to break down unwanted Endosulfan residues in to harmless ingredients. A chemical approach is best when ph and temperature conditions are favorable. Bacteria and fungi are superior weapons when ambient conditions do not favor rapid break-down.

Endosulfan presents all the agronomic advantages of long duration control with simultaneous benefits of easily-manageable residues in soil and water. This is also why it is superior to foliar applications of neonicotinoids during the flowering stages of crops. Endosulfan does not enter xylem and phloem tissues.

Remediation is integral to my pesticide safety projects. Please use the following link for a useful lead on this topic:

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1562415/endosulfan_sulfate_sorption_on_natural_organic_substances/

Italian Pesticide Safety

Italy is not a top pesticide business market. However, it has taken a decisive step to promote pesticide safety. See:

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222555

Honeybees are generally ignored whenever pesticide safety is discussed. These industrious creatures are not on par with humans, but they have huge roles in preserving biodiversity. Honey and pollination are turbo engines of rural development. 

Neonictotinoid residues should dissipate before a crop starts flowering. It is for the pesticide industry to be proactive and steward their patented molecules judiciously. Poisoning pollen is a horrific act, and should be avoided at all costs. Endogram and Endocel make ideal partners for crop protection during flowering.

You may not be from Italy, but you can add your influential voice to prevent foliar application of neonicotinoids during flowering. Please post below. 

Conserve Your Nation's Pollinators

A Pesticide Safety Lesson for the World

The first world is not always the best repository of new ideas for pesticide safety. Europe, the continent which has produced more active ingredients than any other, is in turmoil. See the following link:

http://www.pesticideinformation.eu/2008/09/pesticides-legislation-opposing-views-from-the-european-parliament/

Many countries have divergent views on pesticide safety. Some even try to impose bans on other nations in order to promote new molecules patented by their corporate votaries.

Pesticide professionals know that safe and judicious use is a skill. Pesticide abuse does not reflect on the inherent utility of active ingredients and their formulations.

Ghana shines in this quagmire. It has taken a bold, innovative, and wise step in promoting correct pesticide use instead of dabbling in the politics of bans. See the following link:

http://www.modernghana.com/news/182736/1/epa-to-ensure-proper-use-of-pesticides.html

I congratulate Ghana on this pathbreaking step to pesticide safety and call on other countries to follow suit.

Welcome to Pesticide Safety

The pharmaceutical industry has a potential role in pesticide safety. Though it is now fashionable for pesticide companies to operate as independent entities, some of the classic active ingredients used in this business originated in pharmaceutical laboratories.

Nearer home, pesticide safety in India needs integration with rural health-care. Many spraymen suffer from substance abuses. Pesticide safety loses some relevance in case people are debilitated by unrelated diseases such as tuberculosis, stomach disorders, inflammation of pulmonary tissues, and allergies.

That is why I feel very happy after reading the glad news at the following link:

http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=334744

The entry of an innovative and ethical pharmaceutical major in to the rural health-care space is an important landmark for India. It is something for other countries such as China to emulate. All pesticide companies should consider alliances with pharmaceutical companies to enhance their product-ranges for farmers and their families. Let us protect people as well as their crops.

A Financial Perspective of Pesticide Safety

Safety does not have adequate importance in the minds of financial analysts.

This is my impression after reading the material at the following two links: 

http://www.bfsl.co.in/Pdf/109%20Research%20Report%20(Rallis%20India%20Ltd).pdf

http://stockideas-pg.blogspot.com/2008/09/review-rallis-india-ltd.html

The pesticide company under reference is a pioneer of the Indian pest management scene. It is part of one of the most sought-after industrial groups in the world. This corporation can rightly claim to have done at least as much as any of its peers in terms of pesticide safety. Yet there is no mention of such exploits in either of the two business analyses referred to above.

Pesticide safety costs money. It does not generate direct revenues. Commitment to pesticide safety separates ethical industry members from others. Pesticide safety is a key driver of business stability in this industry. It is not a matter for any stakeholder to ignore. 

I invite your comments on this matter. Please post below.

Toxicology Transparency for Pesticide Safety

Literacy and consensus are major impediments to better pesticide safety standards. Toxicology is not a popular subject though it is fun to throw mud at pesticides. The result is that the laity gets addicted to plain dromology.

These are my impressions from the article at this link, and my communication with the author:

http://jorma-jyrkkanen.livejournal.com/15014.html

I appeal to people from all shades of opinion to use this forum, or to create their own web logs, in order to promote awareness and consensus on pesticide safety. I am willing to post on any web site, and have enabled all comments on mine. You do not even have to identify yourself here, and are assured of responses within 24 hours of posting.

Everyone gains from a common understanding of pesticide safety. Dialog is the best route to achieve consensus. Learning is enabled when we share our knowledge resources. These are the lessons I have learned from Pujya Shri Kantisen Shroff, who is one of the greatest living proponents of environmental conservation, rural wealth creation through independence, and sustainable agriculture.

The Future of Pesticide Safety in India

Vast chasms characterize Indian agriculture. Average yields are small fractions of what breeders and agronomists achieve. There are matching gaps between farming by Krishi Pandits and others within localities.

We have a similar situation with respect to pesticide safety. I cannot publish or refer to confidential and proprietary data, However, I have seen incontrovertible evidence that reputed pesticide manufacturers are able to protect their production personnel from hazardous exposure. I also have personal experience of this matter.

Accounts of pesticide toxicity in field and market situations lack credibility because of the amateur ways in which primary data is gathered and analyzed. This is why the pesticide industry is forced to discredit or ignore reports of poisoning, especially of the chronic nature.

The very establishment of an NOEL is hard evidence of the need for pesticide safety. All pesticide industry professionals know of instances of pesticide abuse. It follows that slow poisoning is an insidious possibility. There is no time to lose in improving pesticide safety standards. It is a matter of extension for the technology is nearly as old as the hills.

Many farmers no longer handle pesticides directly any longer. Professional application, as required for industrial and home fumigation is not yet a must in India, but it is a route for all stakeholders to support in pro-active, positive, and voluntary ways.

Contract spraymen constitute a vast yet poorly appreciated human resource for pesticide safety. This cadre is most in danger and in need of help as well. Many pesticide safety programs ignore spraymen because they are not paying clients. However, the future of the pesticide industry lies in their hands.

Dermal and inhalation toxicities should be primary aims for new pesticide safety standards. Spraymen can be enabling resources for insectaries, honey production, enforcement of re-entry restrictions, and PHIs as well. We can revolutionize pesticide safety through this approach, and monitor progress through clinical examinations, diagnostic tests, and residue tracking.

I have started this work in Northern India and wish to extend the project to other areas. The Internet makes it possible to spread the good word quickly and free of exorbitant costs.

Please post below or write to me at sochiye.pesticidesafety@gmail.com if you can help.   

Are Your Pesticide Stocks Safe and Secure?

I remember Najafgarh Road as I commiserate with my fellow-citizens in Delhi over last week's horrific terror attacks. West Delhi was scantily populated in the mid-1970s when I had to site a pesticide warehouse. I had to suffer much opprobrium over locating the warehouse so far away from Asaf Ali Road in the heart of the city, where we had an office.

Pesticide warehouse and factory locations cannot be permanent. Localities change characters, and areas which were once safe for pesticide storage and production become densely populated over time.

Public and natural water bodies are also threatened by pesticides. Containment is therefore essential, and there must be provisions for emergencies such as fires.

Now, security is a new concern. Unauthorized access to a pesticide warehouse or factory can pose enormous threats to law and order. We never bothered with such things in the past, but it is a matter for urgent and top concern today.

Please visit the following link: 

http://jefferson.ifas.ufl.edu/ag_pages/bioterrorism.htm

New Pesticide Safety Champion

Do not let the good looks fool you! Chrysopa, pictured above, is called lacewing, and is truely a spectacular creation of nature. However, it is also a voracious feeder. A Chrysopa release can control a caterpillar outbreak faster than any pesticide. This is a challenge I am ready to take at any time. Divide a devastated field in to two parts, and I will bring it under control through Chrysopa and Endogram faster than any pesticide company.

There used to be two problems with Chrysopa. Firstly, it used to be very expensive to rear because it eats so much. Secondly, its tender body falls quick prey to deadly new pesticides such as neonicotinoids and synthetic pyrethroids.

I now have solutions to these problems thanks to the Government of India. I have discovered an economical diet to rear Chrysopa in any village. There is also a strain that tolerates Endocel. These are not my inventions, but what I have found in government laboratories. It is living proof that our government scientists are the best in the agricultural world. We may run after Washington for uranium, but the world must run after us for beneficial insects with tolerances for Endosulfan. We are also world leaders in the manufacture of this wonder pesticide. Europe heaps scorn on Endosulfan because we have mastered the art of making this creation of theirs. However, we know how to make and to use this molecule safely and judiciously. Emdosulfan-tolerant Chrysopa is a gift from India to the world of pesticide safety.

Write to me if you would like to access a colony and learn how to rear it. Welcome to the future of pesticide safety with Endosulfan.

Eternal Vigilance for Pesticide Safety in Production and Storage

Written procedures and regular rehearsals are musts for all pesticide manufacturing and storage units. Not even the best corporations are above accidents as the following link demonstrates:

http://www.wchstv.com/newsroom/eyewitness/0808/080829_3e5528ed.shtml

The probabilities of an adverse event are fortunately low, but stringent preventive and contingent measures are musts in all cases. Most large factories have detailed procedures to deal with emergencies, but warehouses are often not structured for management of disasters.

Emulsion concentrates with low flash points require special precautions. Local fire services should be equipped with MSDSs, and impervious containment arrangements are required to hold contaminated water and sludge.

I am trained in safe storage and transport of pesticides, and offer my services to anybody who would like to use my expertise to raise pesticide safety standards.

You can reach me on 919820188291 at any time.

Fight Discrimination in Pesticide Safety Now

The Pesticide Action Network North America has posted some views about Endosulfan. I reproduce below my response to this web page:

 

I wish to respond to the material I have accessed today at the following link:

https://www.panna.org/campaigns/endosulfan

I have worked with Endosulfan, and with several other pesticides, bio-rational products, and organic technologies, for more than three decades.

Pest management is not similar to the very North American habit of owning and driving automobiles. You should not denigrate a pesticide because it is not the latest model in showrooms. Similarly, regulatory actions against specific molecules in certain parts of the world may be influenced by the business interests of manufacturers domesticated in those countries. Please do not dilute the sovereign rights of all countries to regulate pesticides within their own jurisdictions.

Endosulfan does not harm non-target organisms or the environment when used as per label directions. The NOEL, ADI, and PHI systems are specifically designed to enable the safe and judicious use of pesticides.

Endosulfan has a unique place in Integrated Pest Management. It is the only molecule in the world with strains of beneficial insect tolerances. You are quick to report the EU ban on Endosulfan, but remain silent on CCD which afflicts the entire continent of Europe. It does not become you to act as a promotional agent for European neonicotinoids. 

I appeal to you to serve the larger public interest, free of abusive discrimination, by promoting the safe and judicious use of pesticides.

Dr. Satyabroto Banerji
B 3 Industrial Assurance Building
Churchgate
Mumbai
400 020
India
skype: srbanerji
Call: 919820188291

http://pesticidesafety.blogspot.com/

Please add your voice to mine. You can write to Panna at the following address:

panna@panna.org

 

Transactional Analysis for Pesticide Safety

This post is a protest against the punitive regulatory action reported at the following link:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2008/09/08/daily26.html

I disclaim that my views are based on my professional career with a legacy company of the one involved. I write in the greater interests of pesticide safety.

The world pesticide industry is an oligopoly, especially in terms of novel syntheses. We all depend on a handful of corporations for continuous investments in discovering new molecules. It is also their magnanimity that can quickly correct serious maladies that afflict agriculture, including the dreaded CCD of honeybees. 

Global corporations should be given opportunities to correct minor aberrations in their far-flung operations. It is not befitting to treat them like children, handing out petty fines. After all, these companies have their own internal audit systems as well. ISO 14001 philosophy promotes self-regulation, and the regulatory action in this instance goes against the grain of industry leadership for better pesticide safety. 

Thank you for posting your opinion below. 

Leadership for Pesticide Safety

Dr. Upasana Singh, pictured above, is the Project Coordinator of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra at Tepla in the Ambala district of Haryana. She is not as stern as she appears in the photograph. However, a camera cannot lie. I captured this rare image as one of her colleagues spoke about pesticide safety.

The Krishi Vigyan Kendras of India are effective agents of change for rural communities. All countries can adopt this system for their benefits. A Krishi Vigyan Kendra brings extension personnel, agricultural technologists, farmers, and agricultural laborers together on a single platform. Superlative management skills ensure rapid and faithful transfer of cutting-edge technologies from laboratories to lands.

No Indian can deny that Haryana is at the vanguard of our national progress. It is not just a verdant land by title, but in reality as well. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra at Tepla in Ambala district of Haryana is, in the words of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, one of my temples of modern India.

I commit myself to the cause of pesticide safety under the aegis of this magnificent institution. Please join me and help in this endeavor to ensure safe and judicious use of pesticides.

Small Steps Can Make Major Pesticide Safety Leaps

Spraying a post-emergence herbicide can be taxing. You have to use a hood, and normally this forces you to bend while spraying. Exhaustion is a great hurdle to pesticide safety, and hence simple lance extensions can make major differences to operator comfort and safety.

I witnessed testing of such a device recently in Bawana on the farm of Shri Jille Singh Rana. I have posted on this progressive cultivator before. The person testing was Shri Ram Mahato from the farm. Mahato is from Bihar, but has worked in Haryana for the last 25 years. He was very happy with the test. Here is a clip of the test:

The attachment is innocuous. However, appearances are certainly very deceptive as you can tell from the video. I should clarify that I have filmed a demonstration with plain water, which is why you do not see protective gear. Here is another view of the lance:

The device will be improved further to strengthen bonding with the lance. Post below or write to sochiye.pesticidesafety@gmail.com if you would like to access this device.

A Database is a Must for Pesticide Safety

All pesticide industry professionals treasure pictures of farmer meetings. I love the one above most especially because the statue in the background is of one of my lifetime heroes. I would like to follow in the footsteps of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and devote my life to the cause of my under-privileged Indians.

That is why I am distraught about Naresh Kumar pictured below. 

You can read about him in my post of August 14, 2008 in this web log. I made my aloe-vera disinfectant gel with his swollen cheeks and burning back in mind. Though I have never sprayed a neonictinoid, I have plenty of first-hand experience of the hazards of synthetic pyrethroids. I am certain that my gel can help Naresh. Besides, I want him to have a protective-gear set offered on generous subsidy by Excel Crop Care Limited. 

Naresh was missing from our pesticide safety meeting in Bawana on the 04th of this month. We could not reach his mobile either. I have realized that a database of all farmers and spraymen is vital if our meetings are to be of any use.

I am grateful to my friends Sharma and Gaur, pictured below with two other spraymen. They will help me locate Naresh when they next visit Tanda, and will arrange for as many spraymen as we can find to participate in my pesticide safety initiatives on a regular basis. 

The Power of Consensus for Pesticide Safety

I realized today that intransigent stands by the pesticide industry ail the entire farming community.

The occasion was a pesticide safety meeting in Ambala, Haryana. The head of the local government hospital, the project coordinator of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, State Government officials, scientists, farmers, and agricultural laborers all got together to decide on a common plan of action. 

We will meet again on October 21, 2008. This will be to distribute safety gear, a disinfectant gel, health insurance papers, and insecticide nozzles. I also hope to move to other parts of Haryana and to Punjab during the trip, and extend the pesticide safety program.

There are about 40 families of migrant labor in the neighboring district of Kurukshetra. They have come to Haryana all the way from Bihar. They spray pesticides all the time, and are weary of the effects of the new patented products. They welcomed the pesticide safety initiative most enthusiastically. I spent quality time with Shanker Mandal and Rajkishore Shah pictured below.  Mandal is originally from Bithouli in Thana Beheri of Darbhanga district. Shah is from Bagheli, which falls under Jadiya thana in Supole (pincode 852112). Listen to their words at the link below the photograph.

http://satyabroto.podbean.com/2008/09/06/operator-views-on-pesticide-safety-ambala/

Recent European Initiatives for Pesticide Safety

Germany seems to be on course to follow France and ban neo-nicotinoids to save honeybee colonies. Read about it at the following link:

http://www.panna.org/files/ENSCABDsuesOverBeeDeaths20080826.pdf

I request neonicotinoids experts in India to please comment on this matter. Are our honeybees safe? I checked an imidaclopid packing leaflet today. It carries no warning related to avoiding exposure to pollinators. CCD will wreck havoc with countless marginal farmers and the landless as well. Honeybees are are most precious bio-diversity resources. Foreign companies which own neonicotinoid patents should underwrite the risks of their products in India. 

Please voice your powerful opinion today.

New Pesticide Safety Plane Takes Off

I must admit that superb organization made the day. The meeting room was full right on time. The presentations were received with rapt attention. The subsidized protective gear and the free samples of disinfectant herbal gel were received with enthusiasm. The laddoos did full justice to Haryana's reputation for mouth-watering desserts.

I am glad to say that the new pesticide safety program has got off to a pleasing start at Bawana today.

A New Pesticide Safety Dawn

Practising Hindus believe that the fourth day of the bright phase of the moon during the indigenous month of Bhadra is exceptionally auspicious. That is why, with the approval of all my friends, whether Hindu or of other systems of faith or ideology, I invoke the obstacle-dissolving blessings of beloved Lord Ganesha, in my new pesticide safety endeavor.

All stakeholders support pesticide safety. I welcome everyone's invaluable contributions to make my humble contribution to this universal task successful. You can post below, or send mail to sochiye.pesticidesafety@gmail.com at any time. You need not disclose your identity. All legal comments, especially most critical ones, are welcome.

My focus is on agricultural laborers who are most in danger of exposures above NOELs. I want to follow the lead of the United States, and use this cadre to create a force for positive change in pesticide safety and pest management standards.

Here are the five principal planks of my new pesticide safety strategy:

1. Provide professional spray operators with protective clothing and aids, remote-controlled and drift-resistant application equipment, IPM knowledge resources, and beneficial insect rearing facilities.

2. Spread the good word about Universal Health Insurance, and provide recorded annual health-appraisal facilities.

3. Campaign against the abuse of pesticides with systemic potentials, so that honeybees, other pollinators, and humans are saved from insidious toxicity.

4. Support the development of new pesticide formulations that eliminate ingredients with untested carcinogenic potentials, that waste precious water resources. and which contribute to destruction of the ozone layer of Mother Earth.

5. Prevail upon the powerful pesticide industry lobby to adopt a life-cycle approach to their enterprises, ensuring clean-up and remediation following use of their molecules.

Now it is your turn.

Follow the Pesticide Safety Leader

Singur is the most fertile agricultural block in which I have ever worked. I have always envied Robin Bhakta, who was the dealer I served for this verdant paradise. That is why my family name is not the reason for my personal opposition to building a factory of any kind in my God's country.

However, no jumbo disaster can detract from my respect for the House of Tata. The pesticide arm of this conglomerate has always been at the vanguard of plant protection. It has been a beacon for me from the days of Dr. Vevai to Dr. Sohoni. 

Please use the following link to get new inspiration for pesticide safety:

http://www.tata.com/innovation/articles/inside.aspx?artid=arpVL36Krrg=

I have developed a new program by following this creative process. I will launch it in Bawana after paying obeisance to Lord Ganesha today.

Please share your innovative ideas about pesticide safety by posting below. All languages and media are welcome, and it is not essential to disclose your identity.

Fear of the unknown stalks CCD. We know that honeybee colonies all over earth are in danger, but we are not sure of the cause.

Pesticides, especially foliar neonicotinoids and others with systemic potentials are suspect. However, they are patented properties of the most influential pesticide manufacturers from Europe. We cannot dare to challenge them, to say nothing of national regulators.

Honeybees can make a lot of noise, but who is willing to listen?

This is a golden opportunity for the pesticide industry to discharge its corporate social responsibilities. Please lend your capable shoulders for the following burdens:

1. Promote the use of Endogram during flowering.
2. Use Endocel during the cool hours of the day when pollinator activity is relatively low.
3. Stop all systemic pesticide use a fortnight before a crop enters its reproductive phase.
4. Ban neonicotinoid foliar application during flowering.
5. Restrict systemic fungicides in favor of sulfur formulations.
6. Promote health bee programs.
7. Support the development of improved and tolerant honeybee strains.

My recommendations are inspired by the following link:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572

Thank you for your vigorous, immediate, and sustained responses.

Regulations are not meaningful if the affected public is not allowed to participate in decision-making processes.

Allegations abound about connivance between regulators and the pesticide industry to foist harm on unsuspecting communities.

Controversies about the roles played by neonicotinoids to cause Colony Collapse Disorder in honeybees have caused widespread distress.

Every stakeholder in pesticide safety stands to gain if there are open discussions about the risks of using new and patented pesticides.

That is why I consider the contents of the following link to be a harbinger of positive change towards pesticide safety:

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=EPA-HQ-OPP-2003-0254


Thank you for posting your valuable opinion on this matter of vital national interest.

The dead honeybee below cannot be brought back to life. However, you can save colonies from extinction by acting now to restrict non-essential foliar applications of neonicotinoids. Ask farmers to switch to contact molecules with favorable profiles for all beneficial insects during flowering. Substitution with Endogram will be even best.