India

The most effective means of consistently ensuring the safety of drinking water supply is through the use of a comprehensive risk assessment and management approach, that encompasses all steps in water supply from catchment to consumer. Such approaches are called Water Safety Plans (WSPs).

The aim of a WSP is to organize and systematize records of management practices applied to drinking water and to ensure workability of such practices to organized drinking water supply.

Delivery of safe drinking water is vital for protecting public health and of promoting more secure livelihoods.

The traditional approach to water quality and safety management has relied on the testing of drinking water, as it leaves the treatment works or at selected points, either within the distribution system or at consumer taps. It is referred to as ‘end‐product testing’.

The quality of drinking water is a vital element of public health and well-being. The most effective means of consistently ensuring the safety of a drinking-water supply is through the use of a comprehensive risk assessment and risk management approach that encompasses all steps in water supply from catchment to consumer.

WHO guidelines on water quality term these approaches as water safety plans (WSPs), developed to organize, systematize and apply management practices in drinking-water quality.

The promoters have a combined industrial experience of more than 50 years in construction, water & wastewater treatment in fertilizer, power, electronics, steel, textile, chemicals, dyestuff & bulk drugs. The company provides total solution for complex water & wastewater problems and has created a niche for itself.

 Stating that modern agriculture increases production cost, the author observes that productivity of the same crop was higher in pre-British times than what it is now with modern agriculture techniques.

As these old agricultural techniques have not been scientifically researched there is a lot of scepticism which also results in them not being promoted. The paper lists out agricultural techniques, which result in sustainable high yields and are accepted by the scientific community.

The following article is based on a field experiment in International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), where low cost farming systems that involve use of biological inputs obtained from the field is compared with conventional farming.

Further, the authors offer suggestions for future demonstration and verification experiments, to study the virtues of organic  farming.

This paper was presented at the first National Symposium on System of Rice Intensification (SRI) – Present Status and Future Prospects held in 2006.  The parameters include thirteen soil properties which included six related to cultureable microorganisms, three root-related parameters and yield.

Two of the four systems are low-cost farming methods which are based on traditional and scientific knowledge on using crop residues, farm-waste, compost, Gliricidia lopping, bacterial inoculants, and herbal extracts as nutrients to nourish the soil, and as biopesticides to manage pests.

The third system is conventional agriculture which is the "control" and receives chemical input as suggested by research institutions depending on crop type. The fourth is a combination of the  first three.

T N Khoshoo Ecology and Environment award for schools has been instituted to recognize schools that enable innovative, creative activity that promotes environmental consciousness and thoughtful action. This award is a joint initiative by The Khoshoo Endowment Fund and ATREE, along with the Teacher Foundation, Wipro, IAIM-FRLHT and Pravah. The award was launched in Bengaluru and Delhi earlier in the year 2010.