The False Notions Peddled in India about Westerners

This is a fantastic story of a woman who started giving away excess garden produce for free and then others started also leaving their excess produce for others - poor or just sharing people, to take as they need. Lou Ridsdale started "Food is Free" 6 years ago in Ballarat in  Victoria and its still going strong.

Our friend sent this little video from Australia. 

I had never bothered to travel abroad before 2014... I was also told by elders that all civilization, all culture, all history, was really only in India, and not elsewhere ! 

I bought the crux of this thinking, but began to Q this recieved wisdom when about ten years ago, i deeply read about WW2 and its aftermath in Europe. 

Mainland Europe - and Britain, were in 1945 at the end of the war, bombed out ruins over large parts.. Agriculture, sewage, water systems, train stations and bridges were destroyed.. 

1 % British, 6 % of Austrians, 8 % of Germans, 9 % of Greeks and Yugoslav people and 17 % Poles were dead as a result of the war. 

All other countries in Europe had also lost large nos. of their people. 

There were large food shortages in Europe towards the end of the war and after it, even resulting in mass starvation in a few countries.

India had suffered too ofcourse, with 2 million dead in the Bengal famine in 1943 because of British mismanagement, and a further 2 million dead during the partition riots in 1947 (0.5 % of the population of undivided India). 

A lakh soldiers from India had also perished in WW2, fighting on the British side. 

So Europe set to rebuilt itself, and so did India, 2 years apart - 1945 and 1947. But the difference, even between the poorer economies of East Europe, and India, is vast. Even if they did have a head start on industrialization, and had exploited other regions of the world, this did not fully explain to me, why we were so much behind.

I decided to travel to these countries to get a better sense of this.. so my family and I went to England, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and mainland Europe in different trips from 2014-2017. These were in the nature of study tours.. I had Qs I wanted answered.

Ofcourse these trips of 2 weeks each to a country were too small for in-depth study, but I did get some answers to Qs on farming, attitude to water supplies, degraded land, and the work ethic. And public transportation systems, urban planning et al..

But the most important learnings were about people.. I had been told Westerners did not value family life - which was patently false in my experience. The people we met also had meaningful friendships where they did a great deal to help each other out. 

Most impressive was, that I have not met a single person in these nations who DID NOT volunteer frequently for causes they believed in.

The very elderly also in New Zealand and Britain, some of them on wheelchairs, volunteered in churches, changing flowers, guiding people, and collecting money to train guide dogs to help disabled people.

Update on Locust Invasion end May-Beginning June 2020

• Last reported locations of Locust swarms in India
• Threat from Locusts to three Districts in Punjab
• These are immature locusts which pose a greater threat
• The threat from locusts is to wildlife also
• Efforts by Rajasthan against Locusts
• Natural control methods adviced by University in Maharashtra
• Why Helicopters have not been pressed into service against locusts
• Helicopter Sprayers will start arriving from Britain around mid-June

Outlook : Last reported locations of Locust swarms in India are in MP/Maharashtra : Locusts crossed into Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh from eastern Maharashtra on Thursday afternoon, a senior agriculture department official had said.
Earlier on Thursday, officials had said the swarms were moving eastwards, towards Gondia district of Maharashtra after entering Bhandara from Nagpur district on Wednesday.

Tribune : Threat from Locusts to three Districts in Punjab : Sources in the Agriculture Department said the primary threat was to areas of Fazilka, Muktsar and Bathinda districts, which are located close to Rajasthan. “At present, the locust swarms which entered India from Pakistan have caused losses in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Like Punjab, the governments of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh are also on alert,” an official said.

The Hindu : These are immature locusts which pose a greater threat : Last year, mature locusts had entered parts of India after a gap of 26 years. But the locusts that have come in this year are immature. Immature locusts are not fully grown and have the capacity to cause more harm. They also have a longer lifespan. The locusts which entered India were about 10-12 days old and were flying huge distances in search of food. Since the Rabi crop harvesting is over and the Kharif sowing season is yet to begin, they were unable to find any vegetation.

Mongabay : The threat from locusts is to wildlife also : In terms of the environmental implications, locusts impact native grazing species that rely upon grasslands and croplands for survival. Swarms consume everything in their path, leaving behind ruined cropland and barren pastures. While they are not known to impact forests or natural tree cover, their voracious consumption of most species of crop creates food scarcity for native fauna and other insects.

CNN : Efforts by Rajasthan against Locusts : State officials are using 100 tractor-mounted sprayers and 20 fire engines across 11 districts to spray water and pesticides. Drones provided by the central government were also used to spray pesticides in two districts in Rajasthan, according to an official of the State Agriculture Department. He added that about 70% of the locusts there had been destroyed. While locust invasions can be devastating for communities because they pose a threat to food security, India has so far appeared to have escaped from the worst as farmers have not yet begun to sow the new season's crops. "The locusts were sitting on barren land. The winter crops have been cut and it hasn't rained yet so the new season's crops have not been sown. Those who planted fodder crops or vegetables could chase the locusts away. This time, there wasn't much loss," said the official. Outlook : Natural control methods adviced by University in Maharashtra : The Vasantrao Naik Agriculture University at Parbhani in Marathwada said threat from swarms of locusts destroying crops and travelling long distances in search of food can be tackled by undertaking certain measures. Destroying their eggs, digging trenches of a specific size and spraying neem oil on standing crops are some of the effective methods to tackle the menace caused by locusts, it said in a statement. The department of agricultural entomology of the university published a set of guidelines on Thursday for farmers in this regard. "Female locusts lay 50 to 100 eggs in moist sandy land. The hatching period of these eggs depends on environment and may stretch from two to four weeks. Larvae cannot fly immediately when they come out," the varsity said. The university suggested destroying those eggs in groups. Farmers can dig trenches in a size of 60 centimeters wide and 75 centimeters deep which can help to catch small locusts from the flock, it said. "If a swarm of locusts is in one square km area, their weight can be up to 3,000 quintals. Their flocks can be neutralised during night time (which is their resting time) with the help of smoke. "But farmers need to be very careful and ensure their crops do not catch fire," the university said. Spraying 2.5 litres of neem oil per hectare has also proved effective in controlling swarms of locusts, it said.

Outlook : Why Helicopters have not been pressed into service against locusts : None of the six states, affected by locust attack, have pressed into service any helicopter for the aerial spray of chemicals despite a large number of crops continuously being destroyed. Parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are in the grip of large swarms of locust attack and alerts have been released for far more severe attacks in days to come. Despite that, locust control authorities are using either sprayer mounted on a vehicle or a drone for an aerial sprinkling. Experts say that both the measures have their own limitations and a helicopter is the most deadly weapon against the locusts. “There is no dearth of helicopters in the country but we don’t have Ultra Light Vehicle (ULV) spraying kit which is specially made and fitted on both sides of a helicopter,” KL Gujjar, deputy director, Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage (PPQS), said. “The Ministry of Agriculture has identified five helicopters for this purpose but in the absence of ULV kit, they are of no use as of now,” Gujjar said. He further said, “There is only one UP-based company in the country which manufactures ULV spraying kit for helicopters but due to the lockdown they couldn’t manage spare parts to manufacture it. The company can deliver only in September.” Sources say that the government is trying to import kits for helicopters but it hasn’t materialised yet. So, as of now, sprayer-mounted vehicle and drone are the only options. “Even with full pressure, a sprayer-mounted vehicle cannot take the chemical for more than 15 feet high in the air. The locusts fly higher and rest on top of the tall trees of up to 30 feet of height,” GK Bunker, Assistant Director, Locust Circle Office, Bikaner, said. Bunker added, “We take the help from fire tenders but that’s not feasible every time and at all places.” Field officials also find drone an inefficient tool to fight against large swarms of locust. “A drone can take 5 to 10 litre of chemicals at one go and it can fly for only 15 to 20 minutes. It needs to be recharged after that. Where you need thousands of litres of chemicals to be sprayed to control a huge population, what can a couple of drones do,” Kamal Katiyar, deputy director, agriculture, Jhansi district, said. Katiyar adds that locusts rest at night on trees and bushes and that’s the right time to spray chemicals on them. “We start spraying from 12 in the night and continue until the early hours. But often due to varying physical features of an area, it is difficult to reach places where they rest. So, a helicopter is the most potent weapon against the locusts,” Katiyar said. Reuters : Helicopter Sprayers will start arriving from Britain around mid-June : Despite large-scale incursions by the insects, the Indian government and farm experts do not foresee major crop damage for the moment as the pests have arrived during the gap between the previous harvest and the next planting season. But experts warn that federal and state governments need to kill the pests quickly over the next few weeks to ensure they don't breed again and then devour summer crops. If the insects continue to multiply, India could see extensive losses in June and July when monsoon rains spur sowing of rice, sugarcane, corn, cotton and soybean crops, they said. The government said it was arranging drones to drop pesticides on trees and in inaccessible places to kill the insects. It also plans to use helicopters for aerial spraying. Up to 15 sprayers will start arriving from Britain over the next two weeks and 45 more in one-and-a-half months, it said. Farm experts said that while loud noises can briefly get rid of the pests, they do not amount to a sustainable plan and can make it more difficult for authorities to target and contain the pests. "It's not killing any locusts, it's just shifting the problem to the neighbours," said FAO's Cressman. He said chemical pesticides were the cheapest and most effective solution to tackle such large numbers of the insects. Farmers can also dig trenches around their fields, in an effort to trap and bury newborn hoppers that try to march in and eat their crops, he said. But he said controlling locusts is not a job for individual farmers but for well-trained government agencies equipped with technical know-how and the correct sprayers and safety gear.

Is HIT insecticide a Mother's best friend ?

Simple Solutions to the Cockroach problem

While seeing some youtube videos yesterday I was repeatedly interrupted by HIT ads to kill cockroaches. The ads made the pesticide sound like a mother's best friend - it is not ! Some of the older ads are here and here, but new ads are on similar lines. 

Study after study has found many pesticides used around the home have significant link with a range of diseases inlcuding asthma, parkinsons, and cancer. 

Cockroaches cant live in your kitchen if they have no food or water. Especially at night, you can remove all food sources including trash. We put our trash bin out in the balcony. 

If a cockroach finds its way to your house, I feel it is much better to kill cockroaches say with a chappal, than use insecticides. A special katori drain cover also discourages them from using the drains as a hiding space. 

We store cooking and steel utensils used in our kitchens in open shelves, not walled in by cupboards. As the moisture from the utensils finds its way to cupboard crevices, especially the part where the cupboard door attaches itself. That is where cockroaches lay eggs. 

A study on the ‘German cockroach’ (found in India as well) has found evidence that they had developed a cross-resistance to a range of powerful insecticides and may soon become nearly impossible to kill with chemicals of whatever kind. 

In addition to what I suggested friends wrote in with this advice : Friend 1 : Alternate method to kill cockroach is mix boric acid powder+ aata+ sugar, 3:2:1 ratio. Kneed it well. Stick on walls near bin, undersink, drawers, humid area. Very effective, specially if dont want to use insecticide in kitchen. Must try!!

Boric acid is generally considered of low toxicity in small doses. 

Friend 2 : 3 to 4 years back, we had a serious cockroach infestation in the kitchen. This was despite a clean kitchen. 

We stationed a vacuum cleaner in the kitchen. Each morning the first task before starting work was to suck all possible roaches roaming around as soon as one saw them once the kitchen light was switched on. One would get a window of some 20 seconds post light being switched on before they ran away and hid. So such as many in 20 seconds was the deal. 

In about 3 to 4 weeks, we 'flattened the curve' of their reproduction rate by increasing their death rate. In another about a month, all roaches were finished. Today we have not a single cockroach, in the house, and it's been free from this menace. This has been the case since 3 years. All cleaned up. No pesticide used.

The ingredients of cockroach bait (which is eaten by them resulting in death) are carcinogenic. 

What Do the Regulators Say ?

United States Environmental Protection Agency's page entitled 'Pesticides' Impact on Indoor Air Quality' says that preliminary research shows widespread presence of pesticide residues in homes. 

80 percent of most people's exposure to pesticides occurs indoors and that measurable levels of up to a dozen pesticides have been found in the air inside homes.

The source of pesticides in homes are products used to kill household pests (insecticides, termiticides and disinfectants) and products used on lawns and gardens that drift or are tracked inside the house.

Exposure to pesticides may result in Irritation to eye, nose and throat; damage to central nervous system and kidney; and, increased risk of cancer.

Chronic exposure to some pesticides can result in damage to the liver, kidneys, and endocrine and nervous systems.

The Standing Committee on Agriculture in its report to the Lok Sabha has acknowledged that excessive use of pesticides has led to high levels of pesticide residues in food and animal feed, accumulation of dangerous persistent organic pollutants, possible increased rates of cancer, increased input costs of agriculture and farmers suffering a wide variety of adverse health effects from occupational exposure to pesticides. 

The Act does not currently enable state governments to ban pesticides long-term. To address the harm done by pesticides on their territories, states should probably be able to permanently ban pesticides that are locally problematic. There is no provision within the Insecticides Act for the recall of existing stocks.