December 11th 2007 Chandigarh
Times of India, Neem Based
pesticide to be made popular
The Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST)
and Forest Department (FD) are going to work jointly on a project
for promoting neem-based bio-pesticide in the state.
The PSCST is already paying farmers for neem seed kernel and
Forest Department has also started promoting the growing of neem
trees. The department has also started a neem tree census in
Bathinda, Patiala and Sangrur districts. In the first Stage of the
project, the PSCST plans to establish two neem pesticides
production units, one at Kot Shamir village in Bathinda and
another at Thapar Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Park at
Patiala. The Forest department has already procured a huge stock
of neem seed kernel in Rampura Phul area of Bathinda.
Additional Director of PSCST, Jatinder Kaur said, "With the
adverse effects of synthetic pesticides becoming apparent in
Punjab, there is an urgent need to shift to some safer variants
and neem is one of the best sources of non-synthetic pesticides".
She said the PSCST had an agreement with Punjab Agricultural
University and Forest Department for producing and promotion of
neem based pesticides. After seeing the successful results shown
by neem based pesticides in West Bengal and Maharasthra the Punjab
government decided to promote these here too, Said Dr. Arora. She
said neem is one of the safest pesticides as it does not leave a
residue on the crop like synthetic pesticides do.
"Bathinda district has a large number of neem trees. so the
potential for production of bio-pesticide here is enormous," said
Dr. Arora
She added, " Some villages in Rampura Phul area have 3,000 to
4,000 neem trees." The Forest department will also promote
the
growing of neem among farmers, said Dr. Arora.
November
2, 2007 The Tribune,
Neem- based pesticide plant set up
Farmers of the
state now can give up use of chemical fertilizers. The Punjab
State Council for Science & Technology (PSCST) has set up the
first neem- based bio-pesticide plant at Thapar deemed
university. The unit was inaugurated by Abhijit Mukurjee, at the
Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Park of the Institute.
Dr. N.S. Tiwana,
Executive Director, PSCST, present on the occasion, said Neem (Azadirachtin
indica) is a wonder plant, known for medicinal properties. It will
set new definition in the days to come as herbal bio-pesticide
fro eco-friendly farming in Punjab.
In an bid to
switch over from synthetic pesticides to non-synthetic ones in
Punjab, the council is promoting eco-friendly and biodegradable
neem-based pesticide. Under the programme, the first –ever neem
bio-processing unit in Punjab has been set up by Council at
Science & Technology Entrepreneur’s Park (STEP) of Thapar
university, Patiala.
The memorandum of
understanding for a collaborative programme was also signed
between the Thapar institute and the PSCST on the occasion.
Dr. Jatinder Kaur
Arora, Additional director, PSCST, said neem bio-processing unit
was set up by the council at Thapar under the national level
multi- institutional project supported by the union ministery of
chemical and fertilizers and coordinated by the Regional Network
on pesticides for Asia and Pacific ( Renpap). It also involves
nine other participating insitituonal and organizations from all
over India apart from the Council. The Council plans to set up two
more such units in other parts of Punjab, he said.
Dr. Dinesh Goyal,
Executive Director, Thapar, said ‘intensive farming in Punjab had
led to indiscriminate usage of fertilizers and pesticides over a
few decades leading to ground water pollution and accumulation of
their residues in final produce making it unacceptable in
international and domestic markets.
Later, Dr.
Dapinder K. Bakshi, Senior scientific officer from the council,
apprised farmers about the simple and cost –effective technology
by which they could prepare pesticide from neem fruit.
May 12th 2007 Chandigarh Tribune,
National award for woman scientist
A national award has been conferred upon Dr Jatinder Kaur Arora,
an outstanding scientist from Punjab. She has been given the award
for her work on women’s development through science and
technology. The award was presented to her today, on the occasion
of Technology Day, by the President at Delhi.
Dr Arora is, perhaps, the first scientist to get such an award.
She is a doctorate in microbiology and has a brilliant academic
record. She has been awarded merit fellowship during graduation
and post graduation and ICAR fellowship during her doctorate
programme. After serving as an assistant professor in Punjab
Agricultural University, she joined the Punjab State Council for
Science and Technology in 1990 and is serving as a joint director
in the council at present.
She has executed various prestigious projects, including
mission mode project on biofertiliser, solid waste management
through vermicomposting and promotion of cultivation and value
addition through processing of medicinal and aromatic plants. She
has also launched awareness campaigns on causes and prevention of
genetic disorders which led to significant positive shift in
prevailing perceptions of rural women. She is coordinating
promotion of neem-based environment friendly pesticide in Punjab
under Government of India supported multi-institutional project.
April 30, 2007 The
Tribune, Genetically modified crops
‘becoming popular’
Opposition from various non-government organizations
notwithstanding, the area under genetically modified (GM) crops is
increasing rapidly in the country. Farmers' preference for Bt
cotton can be gauged from the fact that 70 per cent of the total
area under this crop was covered by Bt seeds. " In the next two or
three years, Bt cotton will be spread over 90 per cent of the
total area under this crop", said Dr P.Ananda Kumar, principal
scientist, national research centre on plant biotechnology, and
chairman, monitoring-cum -evaluation committee.
Dr Kumar told The Tribune that in 2002, only 0.5 million
hectares was under Bt cotton and last year the area went up to 3.8
million hectares. The use of pesticides to save the cotton crop
from pests, mainly the American bollworm, had gone down by 75 per
cent, he claimed.
Asked about reports that genetically modified crops created
health problems like skin diseases, he said there was no such
report from any part of the cotton belt so far. " I believe it is
just propaganda against such crops and there is no authentic
report in this regard", he added.
G. Balachandharan, joint secretary, union ministry of
environment and forests, said here today that after the
introduction of Bt cotton in various parts of the country, now the
focus was not on water-guzzling crops like rice.
Balachandharan was here to preside over a training workshop on
bio-safety issues hosted by the Punjab state council for science
and technology. Asked about the high price of Bt seeds,
Balachandharan said it was true that in first years of Bt cotton,
companies charged a high price. " But now we are recommending the
Bt seeds of various companies to introduce competition in sales."
Last year, we recommended the cotton seed of various companies and
it brought down the price from Rs 1,400 per bag to Rs 700-800. We
expect that the price will come down further in two or three three
years", he added.
Punjab chief secretary Ramesh Inder Singh, who inaugurated the
workshop, listed the steps taken to promote bio-technology in the
state.
Others who spoke at the workshop were Dr N.S. Tiwana, Dr
Manoranjan Hota, M.P. Singh, Jatinder Kaur Arora and P. Ananda
Kumar.
January 16th 2007 Chandigarh Tribune,
Punjab Students watching Clouds at NASA
For the past one year, at least hundred students of 10 schools of
the state have been working on an assignment to watch clouds. As
part of a global project promoted by National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA), these students note down the shape of
the clouds overhead and report to the project centre at Colorado
University, USA. Though these students are the only ones in India
to participate in the Cloud Sat programme of GLOBE (Global
Learning and Observation for a Better Environment), they are not
alone. Students in 109 countries across the world have volunteered
for this cloud-watching assignment in assisting weather satellites
to study climatic and seasonal changes over the Earth. Dr Nandini
Mcclurg, research scientist at Colorado University, said,
“Students have been given a schedule which tells them when NASA’s
satellite would be over the region. At that point, students here
note the shape and size of the clouds overhead. The data is sent
to the university, which is then forwarded to NASA. NASA uses this
data to corroborate the information that it receives from the
satellite.” Cloud Sat is a multi-satellite, multi-sensor
experiment designed to measure the properties of clouds that are
critical for understanding the effects on both weather and
climate. Dr Mcclurg was here today to interact with students of
Shastri Model School who are a part of the project. “Our students
have been involved with the project for the past one year and a
team of over 10 students have been sending the Cloud Sat report
daily without fail,” said School Manager Ram Lal Sewak. The data
collected from Punjab is forwarded to Colorado University through
the Punjab State Council of Science and Technology. “It is a
matter of pride that Punjab is the only state in the country where
students are a part of this unique project. We are encouraging
students involved in the project to participate in international
science learning competitions being planned by GLOBE,” said Dr
Neelima Jerath, Joint Director with the council.