PESTICIDES & Health Hazards + BIO-FUEL Byproducts + Climate Change & CDM + Biotech Department

March 18, 2008

NEWS Bulletin from Indian Society For Sustainable Agriculture And Rural Development ----- 1. PESTICIDES have failed to thwart pest invasion, caused health hazards: ICRA 2. Experts suggest alternate uses of byproducts of BIO-FUEL industry 3. (Department of BIOTECHNOLOGY) DBT likely to be upgraded as a ministry 4. CLIMATE CHANGE : India urged to implement good CDM projects --- PESTICIDES have failed to thwart pest invasion, caused health hazards: ICRA http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Pesticides-have-failed-to-thwart-pest-invasion-caused-health-hazards-ICRA/285214/0 ASHOK B SHARMAPosted online: Monday , March 17, 2008 at 2003 hrs IST New Delhi, Mar 16 A study done by ICRA has said that though chemical pesticides have contributed to India's growing food production, they have also paved the way for serious outbreaks of pests and diseases as well as damage to bio-diversity and the environment. (ICRA Ltd is a reputed consultancy and rating firm, an associate of Moody's Investors Service). Despite the use of pesticides, pest outbreaks continue in many crops and many pests like bollworms and whitefly in cotton, brown planthopper in rice, Spodoptera litura in groundnut have developed manifold resistance due to indiscriminate use of pesticides. It said that laboratory studies show that pesticides can cause health problems like birth defects, nerve damage, cancer, and other effects that might occur over a long period of time. The study further said, "More than 80% of

milk samples tested in India were found to contain residues of DDT and HCH. According to another study, the residue of DDT and benzene hexachloride, both suspected carcinogens, were found in breast milk samples collected from mothers in Punjab. The amount of residue was very high and babies were ingesting 21 times the amount of these chemicals considered acceptable, through their mother's milk. Pesticide residues have often been detected in most parts of the country in food grains, vegetables, fruits, oils, feed and fodder, and fibre." According to the study about 72% of the food samples showed a presence of pesticide residues within

tolerance level and in 25% samples they were above the tolerance levels. BHC and DDT residues have been detected in the milk samples including human milk. Similarly, the residues of these two pesticides have also been found in egg and spices. Residues of other pesticides like organophosphorous, carbomates, synthetic pyrethroids, organochlorine pesticides such as Aldrin, Dieldrin, Chlordane, Lindane, Endosulphan have also been found. "This indicates the seriousness of pesticide residue hazards prevailing in the country," the ICRA study said. The ICRA study made out a case for bio-pesticides and said, "They are inherently less harmful, more target-specific than chemical pesticides affecting only the target pests and their close relatives. In contrast, chemical pesticides often destroy friendly insects, birds, and mammals. Bio-pesticides are often effective in small quantities and they decompose quickly and do not leave problematic residues."

The study said that with growing awareness about the ill effects of chemical pesticides, coupled with the introduction of integrated pest management in different crops, and cultivation of Bt cotton, there has been a marked reduction in the use of chemical pesticides. "Responding to the slowdown in domestic demand, production also declined from 95.3 thousand tonne in 2000 to an estimated 84.7 thousand tonne in 2007. However, the production has still been in excess of domestic demand. As a result, the Indian pesticide industry has increasingly resorted to exports over the past few years. Export volumes of pesticides have increased from 40.7 thousand tonne in 2000 to 110.7 thousand tonne in 2007. However, unit export realisations have declined because of the depressed state of world pesticides demand and increased competition caused because of excess capacities," the ICRA study said.... ------- Experts suggest alternate uses of byproducts of BIO-FUEL industry http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Government-plans-to-aid-plantation-of-jatropha-karanja-to-meet-biofuel-needs/285195/ ASHOK B SHARMAPosted online: Monday , March 17, 2008 at 1959 hrs IST New Delhi, Mar 16 Several

experts, with a view to improve the efficiency and profitability of the bio-fuel industry, have suggested the commercial use of by-products like jatropha and karanja cakes and glycerol generated during the process of oil extraction. To meet the needs of bio-fuel production in the country, the government has planned to facilitate the large-scale plantation of jatropha and karanja. The oil extracted from the seeds of these two crops is required to undergo a costly chemical process of trans-esterification before it is ready for blending with diesel. The bio-fuel industry has demanded a series of incentives to make their project viable. The head of the lipid science and technology division of the Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, RBN Prasad has suggested that as the cakes of these two seeds are unpalatable and toxic, alternative applications have to be developed apart from their use as

fertilisers. "These cakes contain proteins and carbohydrates as major constituents and several bioactive compounds as minor constituents. There is a lot of potential to use these cakes for production of biogas, producer gas, briquettes and several products like surfactants and lubricants," he said. VV Mahajani of the Mumbai-based Institute of Chemical Technology, is however, of the view that the by-product glycerol can be used for production of Propylene Glycol, which can be used for making unsaturated polyster resins, poly ether polyols, functional fluids, cosmetics and toiletries flavour. Propanediol produced from glycerol has a number of applications in laminates, composites novel polysters solvents, and special polymers. Liquid phase hydrogenolysis of glycerol can result in the formation of propylene glycol and ethylene glycol for manufacture of polyster fibre and synthetic cloth. He also said that Epichlorohydrin can be produced from glycerol through the Solvay process and be used in production of epoxy resin. Glycerol can be dehydrated to produce acrolein and be used for the manufacture of alkyl alcohol, pyridine, b-picoline, acrylo nitrite, and acrylic acid. Glycerol carbonate has potential

application as a solvent, replacing ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate. Glycerol can produce polyglycerol esters, which can be used as lubricants and plasticisers------------ (Department of BIOTECHNOLOGY) DBT likely to be upgraded as a ministry http://www.financialexpress .com/news/DBT-likely-to-be-upgraded-as-a-ministry/285434/ ASHOK B SHARMAPosted online: Monday , March 17, 2008 at 1948 hrs IST New Delhi, March 17: The Government is

planning to upgrade the department of biotechnology (DBT) to the status of a full-fledged ministry. At present DBT is under the Union ministry of science and technology and is responsible for promoting researches for development of genetically modified (GM) crops and other biotechnological applications in agriculture and health sciences. Speaking at the 22nd Foundation day of DBT on Monday, the Union science and technology minister, Kapil Sibal said : "DBT is 22 years old. As the 21st century would be the century of biotechnology with researches and applications being carried out across the globe, the time is ripe that DBT be upgraded to the status of an independent ministry or a commission." He said that DBT had an annual budget of Rs 900 crore (Rs 9,000 million) as compared to Rs 450 crore (Rs 4,500 million) budget for the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). He said that biotechnology had the

potential for improving agricultural productivity and combating climate change. It can help in sustaining 9% growth rate in the Economy and achieving 4% growth rate in agriculture. Biotechnology had also given lot of employment opportunities to women, he said. Sibal informed the gathering that new institutions were being located in 4 technology clusters namely Agri-Food Technology at Mohali, Punjab; Health Science Biotechnology at Faridabad, Haryana; Animal Science and Biotechnology in Hyderabad and Marine Science and Technology in Tamil Nadu. He projected that by the end of 11th Plan the biotechnology sector in the country would be worth 10 billion. Reiterating the commitment of the Government to promote rapid growth in biotechnology he said 1000 positions of Ph.D. would be created in next five years. Nine Biotech scientists were honoured the National Bioscience Awards for

Career Development to recognize outstanding contributions of young scientists below 45 years of age in basic and applied research in the areas of biosciences and biotechnology including agricultural, biomedical and environmental sciences with potential for application/product and technology development. Ninty eight students were given DBT biology schorlarship. --- CLIMATE CHANGE : India urged to implement good CDM projects http://www.financialexpress.com/news/India-urged-to-implement-good-CDM-projects/285908/0 ASHOK B SHARMAPosted online: Tuesday , March 18, 2008 at 1855 hrs IST New Delhi, March 17: The chairman of the CDM executive board of the UNFCCC and director, climate change cell in the Union environment and

forests ministry, RK Sethi cautioned that implementation of good projects was in the best interests of the country. "Though climate change is a hot topic and over 950 CDM projects from India are registered with the CDM Executive Board, there is a need for some caution about the steps that are being taken by project proponents, validators and governments", he said while speaking at a special interactive session organized on Monday by the apex industry body, CII in collaboration with ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development and with the support of PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt.Ltd. Sethi further informed that there were over 3,000 CDM projects in the project pipeline and the executive board was keen to seek the developments. He analysed some CDM projects in India and commented on the need to involve more small and medium enterprises by providing them with proper guidance. He also enlisted some of the

key shortcomings, the successes and future directions of CDM projects. While providing a detailed description of the technical distribution of global CDM projects, Sethi explained the nuances of the registration process and also how monitoring was becoming more rigorous. Designated Operational Entities (DOEs) were becoming more competent as they go through this learning process, he added, and stressed on

the need for collaborative effort on guidance on investment analysis so that no ambiguities remain. Like in any developing process, Sethi said that the entire mechanism would evolve as one went forward and would incorporate new ideas and adapt to new market situations. Being an optimist in his own words, the challenge, he said, was to spread the idea of green, low-carbon economic growth worldwide without creating disruptions. The CDM executive board was working hard to bring out a Manual for verifiers and validators in the near future to ensure better quality of CDM projects, he said. Climate change is an all-pervasive issue that is engaging everyone's attention and India occupies an important place in the dialogues and activities that are taking place across the world on this issue. To enhance awareness and discuss issues at hand, the CII and ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development also

felicitated Sethi for his appointment as chairman of the CDM executive board from January, this year.. His appointment is seen as a testimony to India's increasing role in the global Economy and points to its being at the forefront in initiatives involving climate change. ------

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