Ancient date seeds from Masada

Date seeds found at the ancient fortress Masada were used by Israeli researchers to grow a sapling. The seed was about 2,000 years old and may help restore a species of biblical trees.

Drone for land and sea multi missions

ORKA, a drone for army and navy land and sea multi missions made by EADS (European Aeronautic Defense and Space company) is seen during the EuroSatory Defense Exhibition outside Paris.

Oil exploration threatens polar bears

Less than a month after declaring polar bears a threatened species because of global warming, the Bush administration is giving oil companies permission to annoy and potentially harm them in the pursuit of oil and natural gas.

African dust, Atlantic Ocean hurricanes

The dust that originates in the Sahara Desert, is lofted by windstorms which carries it west over the Atlantic. High levels of airborne dust reduce the amount of sunlight that reaches the ocean, lowering sea surface temperatures and, generally, hurricane probability.

Researchers in the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) reported earlier this year that African dust storms may dampen hurricanes by cooling sea surface temperature of the tropical Atlantic. Forecasters are now developing predictions about the severity of this year’s season. For the first time this year, African dust may provide a piece of this puzzle.
Predicting severity

CIMSS scientist Amato Evan is extending this work, offering a dust storm activity forecast as a tool to help predict severity of the upcoming hurricane season.

Based on patterns of precipitation in Africa during the past year, Evan predicts a moderate level of dust storm activity this summer. “We have a computer model that takes the dust forecast and tries to estimate how much that dust storm activity will cool the ocean,” he says.

“There is not likely to be an anomalously large warming or cooling [of ocean temperatures] due to dust storm activity.” Low dust years correlate with higher ocean temperatures and conditions more conducive to hurricane formation.

Dust storm activity

Warmer waters also contribute to storm severity. “If you have really warm water, it’s more likely a hurricane could reach category 5,” Evan says.

For example, the record-breaking 2005 hurricane season had below-average dust storm activity, very warm sea surface temperatures and an unprecedented four hurricanes that reached category 5, the highest classification, according to a CIMSS press release.

For this year, Evan’s models predict that dust will cool the Atlantic by about 1.1 degrees Celsius, very close to the average effect of dust on the ocean temperature during the past 27 years.

He says this amount of cooling alone is not likely to trigger especially high or low hurricane activity.

In the future, Evan hopes to be able to use dust forecasts to predict large peaks or drops in Atlantic Ocean temperatures that may influence tropical storm activity.

Management of grape anthracnose

Management of grape anthracnose

Biological control is preferred

Most of the important diseases of grapes such as anthracnose downy mildew and powdery mildew are caused by fungi.

The incidence of the diseases depends not only on the presence of pathogens but also on vineyard management practices and environmental factors such as temperature, humidity and rainfall.

Though relatively quick results are obtained by chemical pesticides, the use of biological control methods is preferred particularly about 45 days before the harvest or during the berry development, for management of pests and diseases, to minimize pesticide residues.

Poor fruit quality

The losses due to anthracnose disease are to the tune of 15-30 per cent. The fungus attacks all green parts of vine shoots, leaves, tendrils, blossoms and berries. The affected berries results into loss of fruit quality and good market price.

Alternative method

The alternative method of using biological agents isolated and screened from grape rhizosphere was found to be an effective solution for the management of anthracnose, to the extent of 62.9 per cent in field conditions when sprayed with a consortium of aspergillus (PSFG), fluorescent pseudomonads (GPF) and phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSBG).

Consortia of all these microbes can be sprayed in the form of liquid foliar spray at berry development stage in grape at 1:3 dilution (1 litre culture and 3 litres water).

Taking a leaf from the book of ancient, time-tested practices

Taking a leaf from the book of ancient, time-tested practices

Input cost has greatly decreased and yield has increased considerably

Effective solution: The formulations can be easily prepared and no big investment is required Well before modern science had invented crop growing strategies and pest control measures, Indian farmers were growing crops successfully and at the same time were able to control crop infestations using traditional methods which were handed down to successive generations by word of mouth.

Though the traditional methods may vary from place to place, their efficiency in terms of pest control has been proven and accepted by those who use them.

For example in Kozhikottu pothai, a small village in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, several farmers are using one or more of the traditional formulations for managing pest menace to their crops.

Effective remedies

“These preparations can serve as a quick remedy to temporarily stop the increasing incidence of crop pests and also help farmers to phase out their dependence on chemical pesticides, which in turn will prevent them from sinking into debts,” said Mr. S. Aravindan, Social scientist, Vivekananda Kendra-Natural Resources Development Project, Kanyakumari.

Easy availability

The main reason for their popularity among farmers is that the items necessary for making them are easily available, not much investment is required to prepare them and lastly they have been found effective, he explained.

For example, farmers use a pest repellant made from papaya leaves. It is made by soaking about one kg of papaya leaves in water (the entire leaves should be submerged) overnight. The leaves are then ground and mixed in a litre of water and sprayed over the crops.

Pungamia extract (Pungam in Tamil) can be made by four different methods. The first is by soaking one kg of Pungamia overnight in water. It is then ground and mixed in about 5 litres of water and sprayed.

The second is by grinding about 50 gms of Pungamia seedsand soaking them in a bucket of water overnight. About one litre of water is added to it later and used.

In the third method, take about 100 gm of Pungamia oil cake and soak it in water for some time and then add about 1 litre water to it and then spray.

In the last method about 1 kg of Pungamia oil cake and neem oil cake each are mixed. Half a litre of aloevera juice and 3 litres of cow-urine are added to it. The mixture is soaked in 15 litres of water overnight. About 6 litres of this mixture is filtered and diluted in 60 litres of water and sprayed.

Tulsi leaves are also commonly used by the farmers to protect their crops from pest and infestations.

About 100 gm of Tulsi leaves are soaked in water overnight. Next day, about 2 litres of water is added to it and the concoction sprayed. Similarly, about 1 kg of turmeric tubers are soaked in about 10 litres of cow’s urine overnight. Next day the turmeric tubers are ground and mixed with 30 litres of water and sprayed.

Similarly neem extract is made by three different methods. In the first method about 6 kg of neem leaves are soaked overnight in water.

The next day the leaves are ground and added to about 60 litres of water and sprayed. In the second method about 3 kg of neem seeds is soaked in water overnight.

It is ground into a paste the next day and mixed in about 60 litres of water and sprayed over the crops.

In the third method, about 6 kg of neem oil cake is ground well and soaked overnight and mixed in 60 litres of water and then used as a spray.

Another common leaf based extract made by the farmers is moodru ilai karaisal (three leaf formulation) It is made by soaking about 3 kg each of Calotropis (Yerukku in Tamil), Neem (Vembu in Tamil)and Vitex (Nochi in Tamil) in about 3 litres of cow’s urine diluted in 2 litres water overnight. Next day this solution is filtered and diluted in about 60 litres of water and sprayed.

Usually the leaf extracts are filtered with a clean cotton cloth and about 4 gm Khadhi soap’ solution are added per litre of the solution and then sprayed.

Traditional knowledge

“Though these formulations have been proven to be effective by the farmers who use them, it should be remembered that all these formulations are not scientifically validated. Their use is mainly based on traditional knowledge which is prevalent in that particular area or region and can vary from place to place and pest to pest."

All the above leaf based extracts have been found effective in controlling stem borer, aswini, leaf roller, cotton bollworms, ear head bugs and thrips, according to Mr. Aravindan.

For more information readers can contact Mr. S. Aravindan, Social scientist, Vivekananda Kendra-Natural Resources Development Project, VK-Nardep, Vivekanandapuram, Kanyakumari - 629 702, Tamil Nadu, India, email. ngc_vknardep@sancharnet.in and vknardep@gmail.com, mobile: 9443748714, phone: 04652 246296 and 04652 -247126.

Studies link gene to upright gait

Studies link gene to upright gait

Scientists claim to have discovered a gene that helps humans walk upright, after studying families with a rare condition that causes some of their members to walk on all fours.

Only a handful of families worldwide are known to be affected by quadrapedal locomotion syndrome, a condition that gained widespread attention in 2006 when the BBC aired a documentary on the lives of five affected members of the Ulas family, who live in Turkey.

People with the syndrome do not walk upright but use the palms of their hands in what is described as a “bear crawl.”

Speech also impaired

Prof Tayfun Ozcelik, a geneticist at Bilkent University, Turkey, tested four unrelated families affected by the condition, believed to be caused by faulty brain development. The disorder also impairs speech and mental ability.

All of the affected children tested by Ozcelik were the offspring of marriages between cousins. The scientist found that two of the families carried a rare mutation in a gene that governs levels of a protein important for healthy growth of the cerebellum area of the brain.

Ozcelik said: “We think this protein is critical for the proper development of the nervous system and our unique ability to balance and adopt a bipedal gait.”

Prof Nicholas Humphrey, a psychologist at the London School of Economics, said more genes were likely to be involved in the disorder. Tests on families in Iraq and Brazil found different genes causing the syndrome, in each case.

According to Humphrey, the condition may could shed light on our evolutionary history and overturn the widely-held belief that our ancestors were knuckle walkers like modern-day apes.

“What’s intriguing is how easily these people seem to take to this alternative gait when they can’t walk properly.

“It raises the question of whether this was how our ancestors walked.”