Fruits should be thoroughly washed with fresh/salt water to remove pesticides and other chemicals

Consuming seasonal fruits is one of the best ways to stay healthy when braving scorching summer days. Doctors and dieticians say that fruits provided necessary nutrients while keeping diseases away. But, there is concern over carcinogenic (cancer-causing) agents being used to ripen the fruits quickly for higher volume of sales.

More than two crore trees were uprooted by cyclone Thane in the district and their disposal would take over six months due to various reasons including shortage of manpower, a senior Agriculture department official said on Wednesday.

The severe storm accompanied by gale force wind with speed touching 135 kmph that hit the district coast on December 30 brought down more than two crore jackfruit, mango, banana, coconut and cashew trees among others across the district, Assistant Director of Agriculture P. Hariharan said.

The damage caused by the havoc wreaked by cyclone Thane in the district has been pegged at Rs 4,000 crore, according to an official of a Central team that inspected the affected areas here. “In total, two lakh hectare of agricultural lands were affected, of which more than over a lakh hectare of lands are in Cuddalore district. In this district alone, the worth of damages would be pegged at Rs 4000 crore approximately,” said the official from the nine-member team led by joint secretary in Ministry of Home Affairs Lokesh Jha.

Contrary to popular belief that trees fight pollution, several species of plants including cashew, tamarind, guava, mango, custard apple, gulmohar, banyan, sapota and jackfruit, are falling prey to heavy air pollution in the industrial city of Visakhapatnam.

The humble jackfruit is the key to achieving local food security and stemming environmental degradation in India, especially the southern states, says K R Jayan, a 46-year-old conservationist, who has been leading a movement in Kerala to revive what is one of the most vital components of the rural economy in the state.

Traditional trees like jackfruit, neem and others will be grown here
Bettadapura
Minister for Forests C H Vijayshankar has said the forest department will develop a Devavana at foot of the Bettadapura hill near Periyapatna taluk near here.

Sale of seasonal summer fruits ripened with harmful chemical