Govind Gujar: entomologist's journey to understand the Society we live in

  It is very disheartening to read the newspaper report on the 23 rd September 2021 that farmers in Bhatinda and Mansa have ploughed back their cotton crops (image) due to the infestation of pink bollworm. Similar cases of ploughing back the crop in soil have been reported in the past, as the pest insect has damaged the crop significantly despite insecticidal use. The pink bollworm has emerged as a key pest of Bt cotton in the past one decade as it has evolved resistance to both toxins and found congenial conditions to multiply in cotton ecosystem. The pest feeds on and bore inside the fruiting bodies, especially bolls that yield seed and lint (also called seed cotton), the very produce that we call “white gold” as it fetches cash to the farmers. Against this background, the approval in May, 2020 of commercial mating disruption formulation (PB Rope of Shin-Etsu Chem Co. Ltd., Japan) of sex pheromone (chemically a mixture in a ratio of 1.11:1.00, respectively of (Z, Z) and (Z, E)...

  Today I missed the webinar on the farm related issues. This is not the first time that I missed it in recent times. I did not feel the pinch of it-no sad feeling, no self-depreciation, no resolve to make up through follow up or no not-to-forget next-time resolution. I was not like this earlier, say about a year ago. I would register for the webinar, note down the date and time in the calender app and a reminder in my phone will ensure that I participate in the webinar. Fortunately, most of the webinars are online and free. Many of them are addressed by the experts. As the science and society expand its boundaries and merge together more often, topics are diversified. And this helps to reach as many as possible. Many of them are meant to educate general public too. And some are meant for specific target groups, like farmers, social workers, academics, etc. Yet, we let them go of them. So, what is that happened to me and many-like me who may have registered for an interesting web...

  The first thing that comes to mind after food is a place where we live and share our space with others. Less conspicuous, but important are pests, be it mosquitoes, cockroaches, ants, termites, rodents, flies, lizards, etc. These are commonly found in many homes. There is no home where these pests are not found, as they are well adapted to the environment. Some of us live in harmony with them. Yet, others do not like even their miniscule presence. Some fear a lot very presence of pests, even if they do no harm. Some pests are nuisance, others harmful. They spread diseases, potential threat to lives of inhabitants. Even today, millions of people suffer from malaria and other mosquito borne diseases. And in recent years, diseases like dengue, chikungunya, Japanese encephalitis spread by mosquitoes have become too familiar as a large number of people are affected in many countries. Bed bugs are becoming common as travels have become common. In view of pestilence, it is natural that ...