Frames from college campus

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Pesticides are toxic by design - they are biocides, designed to kill, reduce or repel insects, weeds, rodents, fungi or other organisms that can threaten public health and the economy. And education is an indispensable element for achieving sustainable development.  With this objective in mind, the Planning Forum of NSS College, Nilamel under the banner of ‘Forty Eight Frames’ is preparing a docu-fiction titled ‘Ajnathayude Amarakaaran’ (At the Helm of Ignorance).Undertaken by fourth semester degree students of the Department of Economics, covering the script, direction and all other technicalities of film-making, the effort was further boosted by the support given by cultivators of the areas near the College, such as Kadakkal and Nilamel in Kollam district and the adjacent Venjaramoodu panchayat in Thiruvananthapuram district. According to Dr Syamlal, Co-ordinator, Planning Forum, though developing countries use only 25 per cent of the pesticides produced worldwide, they experience 99 per of the deaths. The docu-fiction tries to highlight the long-term impact of pesticides on children and to be a part of an awareness campaign for controlled use of pesticides for sustainable development.Some pesticides are characterised by being very persistent in the environment. They may represent long-term dangers in the food chain. Humans, particularly breast-fed babies, are at the top of the food chain.Moreover, it was observed that farmers, by and large, are unaware of the hazardous nature of pesticides, he said.The awareness campaign will inculcate an enthusiasm for adopting pest management practices embedded with judicious use of pesticides in agriculture keeping in view their Minimum Residue Level (MSL) and a waiting period to have healthy crop with more productivity, incurring minimal environmental implications associated with pesticide usage. The documentary will highlight the lacuna in the system. Prof K Jayakumar, College Principal, launched the shoot of the docu-fiction along with Prof K S Geetha, Head, Department of Economics, the other day. The work is expected to be over within a month.