Author Archive
Thank you 700 times, and pesticide Tweets…
Posted by Gavin on March 02, 2010 in Global issues
If you didn’t know it already, we use Twitter, and we now have more than 700 followers - for this we would like to say a big thank you to all.
If you don’t use Twitter, you might not be aware of how useful it can be as a resource for information and good ideas. Here’s a collection of pesticide information from tweets from us, and tweets we’ve re-tweeted from the past few days. Enjoy!
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Via @cropprotection
News of the EU’s ‘REAL Fake’ competition to raise awareness of the dangers and problems associated with counterfeit and fake products - recognised as a great opportunity for EU agricultural schools to explore counterfeit pesticide issues.
Read more: http://bit.ly/an1svn
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Via @pdjmoo
Germany: New sensing technology from bats and insects helps farmers reduce fertilizer and pesticide use - impressive.
Read more: http://ow.ly/1bQ0D
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Via @ThePhoenixSun
An article exploring the health implications of pesticide drift, and the problems of regulating drift.
Read more: http://bit.ly/9xFbmx
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Via @pesticideinfo
Food organisations form working groups to tackle impact of pesticides legislation - a response to the UK consultation for the Sustainable Use Directive.
Read more: http://bit.ly/9F4Zqk
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Via @pesticideinfo
Food Scare Over Toxic Cowpeas Spreads in China - reporting on the detection of harmful chemical residues on Chinese produce.
Read more: http://bit.ly/cZUcmO
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Via @TheAngryindian & @GMWatch
Is WWF the only international green group to be picketed by its peers? An article describing critism of WWF for their involvement in spy production in Latin America.
Read more: http://bit.ly/c2wXPF
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Via @cropprotection
Pesticide red tape may prove ‘a blight on potato sector’. UK concern over the potential impact of new pesticide legislation on potato yeilds.
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Via @pesticideinfo
Colony Collapse Disorder: the real crisis ahead, ‘agricultural collapse disorder…’. A view that bee Colony Collapse Disorder is infact casued by the nature of bee farming.
Read more: http://bit.ly/bzGcJg
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Via @canadaguy
Children in Latin American countries found exposed to DDT - a legacy of anit-malaria pesticide use.
Read more: http://www.enn.com/health/article/41028
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Via @pesticideinfo
Tomatoes that taste like Holland, farming with scorpions, & at least one goodreason why you should not taste pesticides. Actually the previous post on this blog - when you’re done here, why not have a read.
Read more: http://bit.ly/aDuR1Y
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Via @HealthandEnv
NGO facing legal challenge after apparently discovering unacceptable pesticide levels in wine.
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Via @scgardeningnews
Cultural controls are best, but if you must spray, use less toxic insecticides. Some basic advice on home and garden pesticide use.
Read more: http://bit.ly/LpNYO
Some of our followers…
RSS
Comments(0)Why tomatoes taste of Holland again, and other useful info…
Posted by Gavin on February 16, 2010 in Farming, Food & health, Global issues
Actually they don’t, and probably never did. This wonderful question is the result of a German to English Google translation of an article posted at presseportal.de. The story is of Dutch tomato growers who claim their tomatoes taste more like tomatoes when they are grown with biological methods - favouring natural predators to combat pests, over the use of pesticides. The original article can be read here, and the Google translation can be braved here.
Staying with ‘biological’ pest management, an Israeli researcher is developing what is described as an ‘ecologically sound pesticide’ by modifying the venom of scorpions. It is claimed that certain neurotoxins present in the venom have the chemical properties to manage crop damaging pests, while posing no threats to useful pests such as bees, or mammals like you and I.
Pesticides are like medicines, they are used to treat ’sick’ plants, and prevent ’sickness’ in plants. As with medicines, you should always read the label. A well timed news story ‘Pesticides cause impotency if not properly handled‘ (posted on St. Valentines Day), reports on the potential dangers of failing to follow safety instructions. It seems that some farmers in Ghana have taken to tasting pesticides before use in order to reassure themselves of its potency! Without doubt, a practice entirely incompatible with the safe and sustainable use of pesticides. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and CropLife Africa Middle East made these revelations during a recent programme of workshops to train farmers and encourage the safe use of plant protection products.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) offers a wealth of information on good agricultural practices, including information on the sustainable and safe use of pesticides. Always read the label, and if in doubt, seek expert advice.
Roses are red…
Posted by Gavin on February 14, 2010 in Global issues
It’s St. Valentines Day, and countless millions bouquets of flowers and single red roses are being given to wives, partners and lovers the world around. I don’t know a chrysanthemum from a cactus, so the choice is never easy, and it just got harder.
Spotting a gap in the market, flower growers have been pushing organic roses as the ‘green’ choice for this year’s St. V. So now I’ve not only to decide how many roses, but also how they were grown.
I could choose conventionally grown roses - a bouquet grown to perfection with a little help from some pesticide. They’re roses, it’s Valentines Day… they’ll not be cheap,
Or I could opt for the organic roses – a bouquet grown to organic perfection with a little less help from pesticide. They’re roses, it’s Valentines Day, they’re organic… they’ll not be cheap.
I can’t decide.
Maybe I’ll go for the organic, there’s a better chance I’ll surprise her twice…
Radiation a viable alternative to pesticides?
Posted by Gavin on November 30, 2009 in Environment, Farming
Scientists from the IAEA and the UN´s Food and Agriculture Organisation are working on a project to control agricultural pests using the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), which uses radiation to sterilise pests, as reported by the Nuclear Power Industry News Blog.
Focusing on the Olive Fruit Fly (Bactrocera oleae) a project is underway to investigate the success of using nuclear technologies to render male flies sterile through exposure to radiation. Radiated male flies are released into the wild, theoretically reducing the number of successfully fertilised fly eggs.
This is a form of pest control known as Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), which also includes the production of genetically modified insects.
It would be interesting to compare the efficiency and environmental impacts of releasing sterile radiated pests for crop protection and the use of pesticides with active ingredients such as endocrine disruptors.
PesticideInformation will follow developments. If you have an opinion on this, or would like to share a useful link, please leave us a comment below…
More on Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) from around the web
Posted by Gavin on November 18, 2009 in Environment, Farming, Food & health, Global issues
Another round-up of online press and research covering the debate on Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), the name given to an apparent global decline in the pollinating bee population. Comments and link contributions are welcomed - look for the ‘Comments’ link at the base of this post.
Press
Trying to Diagnose the Disappearing Bees (Voice of Sandiego.org)
10 Possible Causes of Colony Collapse Disorder (About.com)
Scientists Untangle Multiple Causes of Bee Colony Disorder (Environment News Service)
Habitat loss and disease are bees’ bane, not pesticides (Farmers Weekly Interactive)
Pesticides blamed for killing bees (Telegraph.co.uk)
Global Honey Bee Population Increasing, Despite Local Losses (ecoworldly.com)
Mysterious decline in bee population creates worry (WorldFocusOnline via YouTube)
General reference
Colony collapse disorder (Wikipedia)
Colony collapse disorder - Possible causes and research (Wikipedia)
Research
Colony Collapse Disorder: A Descriptive Study
(van Engelsdorp et al. plosone.org)
Honeybee colony collapse due to Nosema ceranae in professional apiaries
(Higes et al. Environmental Microbiology Reports, via Wiley InterScience)
Distribution and decline of British bumblebees
(Williams / Natural History Museum UK)