See other Science/Tech Articles
Title: Another route to organic food: Get the pests dead drunk [India]
Source:
Hindustan Times
URL Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1763197,000600030008.htm
Published: Sep 7, 2006
Author: Ashok Das
Post Date: 2006-09-07 21:11:39 by DeaconBenjamin
Keywords: India, organic, pest control
Views: 238
Comments: 8
Now drink to the ingenuity of Telangana's farmers. First they sprayed soft drinks - in place of pesticides - on cotton crops. They are moving on to hard drinks. In some villages in Adilabad and Karimnagar districts, farmers are experimenting with cheap liquor on crops. And the results are encouraging, they say with all the seriousness of scientists in lab coats. The farmers turned to the bottle when the use of spurious pesticides led to crop failure. Liquor treatment is cost-effective too. A litre of cheap booze costs a little over Rs 100 and is enough to spray on two acres. Pesticides for the same area will cost the farmers Rs 3,000-4,000. "I did not think it would work but the liquor killed bugs and pests," says Jagan, a farmer at Ilegaon village in Adilabad, who has been using spirits on his cotton field for the past two seasons. Says Bhumesh, a farmer: "For consecutive years, we lost crops because we used spurious insecticide bought at exorbitant rates. Neither the government nor the companies came to our help. Now we’re doing some experiments on our own." The farmers say spraying liquor — instead of pesticides — is doubly beneficial: they do not get poisoned while spraying and the soil does not get contaminated. But sceptics wonder if the "organic treatment" of cocktails is good for the crop. Wine-shop owners are not complaining. "The sales of cheap liquor have more than doubled," says the owner of a liquor shop at Ilegaon. Agriculture officers in the two districts, however, dismiss liquor-treatment as a short-lived craze. But if the farmers get hooked on to the bottle, then the pesticide dealers will end up with a headache.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: DeaconBenjamin, innieway, noone222 (#0)
ping
This will kill anything. It certainly killed several billion of my brain connections during my teenage years.
"Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities also has the power to make you commit atrocities." — Voltaire (1694-1778)
I've used a lot of natural bug killers such as this and they work. Aspartame sprinkled on plants as a substitute of Sevin dust works well...LOL. I never use poison anymore and haven't for years.
#2. To: DeaconBenjamin, christine (#0)
#3. To: christine (#1)
***LEAP***
"I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed. The U.S. Government will lead the American people, and the West in general, into an unbearable hell and choking life.
-- Osama bin Laden
"A prohibition law strikes at the very principles upon which our govt was founded."
- Lincoln
All our liberties are due to men who, when their conscience has compelled them, have broken the laws of the land.
--William K Clifford
#4. To: YertleTurtle (#2)
ha! that's funny. :P
It certainly killed several billion of my brain connections during my teenage years.
#5. To: IndieTX (#3)
i can't believe the aspartame thing. i had never heard of using it for bugs til Neil posted it the other day. i use sweet & low in my iced tea. you think it kills bugs too? :/
#6. To: YertleTurtle (#2)
"eventus stultorum magister"
Fools must be taught by experience
#7. To: All (#6)
Oh Yeah ... you might have heard this one ! Dedicated to AllTheKingsHorses !!!!!
"eventus stultorum magister"
Fools must be taught by experience
#8. To: IndieTX (#3)
Sevin dust works well
"eventus stultorum magister"
Fools must be taught by experience
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest