31/July/20

 

Environmental activist Kavitha Kuruganti said she was considering legal options against Business Standard after the financial daily carried a full-page advertisement accusing her and other activists of “peddling” “half-truths” and calling for “strong action” against them by the government. The advertisement was paid for by the Crop Care Federation of India, a lobby group representing the agrochemical industry. Business Standard carried a “correction”, rather than an apology, the following day, adding that the paper regretted publishing the advertisement. Kuruganti said the Business Standard’s response was “inadequate” and has asked for equal space to publish her counter-view. Huffington Post (India)

 

 

Every once in a while promising news comes along that gives rise to hope. For those struggling to find a reason to believe that meaningful change is possible in American agriculture, look no further than what Adam and Seth Chappell have accomplished on their 8,000 acre Arkansas farm. Their story is so important because it hammers tight the linkage between the two really big drivers — economics and soil health — that will eventually change agriculture in the US and globally. Hygeia's Blog

 

 

On July 22, the New York State Legislature passed Senate 6502/Assembly 732-B — a bill that would ban the use of all glyphosate-based herbicides on state properties. The bill now awaits Governor Andrew Cuomo’s signature, which would make it law effective December 31, 2021. Beyond Pesticides considers this a hopeful development in the glyphosate saga and has urged the governor ought to sign it. Nevertheless, such piecemeal, locality-by-locality initiatives represent mere “drops” of protection in an ocean of toxic chemical pesticides to which the US public is exposed. A far more effective, protective solution is the much-needed transition from chemical-intensive agriculture and other kinds of land management to organic systems that do not use toxic pesticides. Beyond Pesticides