Vibration Transmitter monitors critical rotating machinery

Tag: food process machinery Available in 2 configurations, CSI 9330 Vibration Transmitter continuously monitors rotating machinery for early detection of developing mechanical issues, and converts analog output of ICP® accelerometer into 4-20 mA signal, proportional to monitored vibration. Model CSI 9330VP provides overall vibration and PeakVue data when connected to standard accelerometer, while CSI 9330VT provides vibration/temperature data when connected to accelerometer with embedded temperature capability.

Celebrate all things fresh with a little monster of the deep

Tag: Fishery Supply Rummaging through some old papers, I ran across a mimeographed copy of a handout from a middle-school science class. I saved it all these years because it was in my own handwriting. My seventh-grade teacher divided the class into small groups and allowed each group to teach the class for one period. The group I was in chose to teach the rest of the class about legendary sea monsters, dispelling old myths with the coldest scientific reasoning our little minds could muster. The mimeographed document with its crude renderings of the mythical beasts served as a visual aid. Below each illustration is a brief explanation of how the creatures were fabricated in the minds of sea-weary sailors. The sea serpent, we surmised, was "probably inspired by a row of jumping dolphins." A mermaid was "actually a manatee with seaweed hanging over her head." One creature that looks suspiciously like the head of a man-eating halibut we dismissed as "pure delusion." Little did we know. Although they may not be man-eaters, Pacific halibut might truly qualify as monsters of the deep. The largest specimen on record is a 495-pound fish caught near Petersburg, Alaska, but commercial fishermen routinely bring in fish in the 150- to 200-pound range. When I lived in Friday Harbor, I used to buy halibut off the dock from fishermen returning from Alaska. Before 1995 when the International Pacific Halibut Commission adopted an Individual Fishing Quota system, the fishery was governed by managing the length of the openings. A more abundant supply meant a longer opening; diminished supplies meant shorter openings. Since short openings forced fishermen to harvest as much as they could during that window of opportunity, risks escalated when the opening times contracted. Regardless of the weather or the condition of their boats, halibut fishermen had to go out. For chefs, the old system meant that fresh halibut was available for only a short season, and for the rest of the year, we had to make do with frozen fish. So when the fresh season was upon us, I used to run a sort of halibut festival at the restaurant, transforming the bones into stock for bisque, frying up the cheeks for appetizers and running the fillets as a dinner special that invariably outsold every other item on the menu. Mostly, I looked for fish in the 30-pound range because they were easy to handle and I knew how to portion them for restaurant service. But one year, spellbound by a 200-pound specimen, I decided I had to have it. I fashioned a sort of rain suit of garbage bags and somehow hauled the thing from the dock to the trunk of my Volvo, then laid it on the floor of the walk-in cooler to cut it into four gigantic fillets. My oldest son, who was still a toddler at the time, was fascinated by the "sea monster," and when the filleting was done, he and I went into the restaurant kitchen and had a private feast made from the trimmings. These days, fresh halibut is available for roughly nine months of the year — from early spring to late fall, so the pressure is off. But I still like to celebrate the arrival of spring halibut with a special meal.

Matching outfit keeps baby cozy

Tag: Acrylic Cotton Sweater Who could resist knitting these booties, pullover, hat and matching blanket, all for baby, toddler or young one? This outfit has comfort and joy written all over it. Sirdar's knitting pattern has easy instructions for ages from birth to age 7. The blanket and sweater is knit in an easy, mock-basket weave stitch.Knit in Tiny Tots DK, a 90 per cent acrylic, 10 per cent cotton blend, it requires three 50-gram balls for the blanket, one ball for the hat, one ball for the booties, and two to six balls for the sweater depending on size. Tiny Tots has 22 boys and girls colours and is machine washable and dryable.For a free copy of this pattern, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Needlepoint Pattern No. 1756, c/o Neighbours, Calgary Herald, P.O. Box 2699, Stn. M, Calgary, AB, T2P 5A7.

DuPont facility gets OSHA Star recognition

Tag: Aromatic Chemical The DuPont Pontchartrain Chemical Solutions Enterprise in LaPlace, La., has earned membership in the prestigious Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) of the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) at the "Star," or highest, level.Dorinda Folse, OSHA's Baton Rouge, La., area director, and Bruce Stark, the VPP coordinator in OSHA's Baton Rouge, La., area office, attended a recent recognition ceremony at the company's facility."This DuPont Pontchartrain location has demonstrated excellence in safety and health management," said OSHA regional administrator Dean W. McDaniel in Dallas. "Its outstanding efforts include maintaining an injury and illness rate that is 70 percent below the national average for the industry."DuPont Pontchartrain Chemical Solutions Enterprise operates chemical processes that produce three different products called aromatic amines. The substances are used to make Kevlar fibers in industrial dyes, as an antioxidant, and for the hardening of paint and other surface coatings. The company has about 140 employees and 120 contractors who operate, maintain and repair plant facilities and equipment.More than 1,945 worksites nationwide have earned entry into OSHA's VPP. Requirements include a high degree of management support and employee involvement; a high-quality worksite hazard analysis; prevention and control programs; and comprehensive safety and health training for all employees. Each of these elements must be effective, in place and in operation for at least one year before a company can apply to join the VPP. Companies in the VPP achieve average injury rates 50 percent lower than other companies in their respective industries.

Furniture gives rise to fashion

Tag: Furniture Fabric For one fashion-design project at Kent State University, though, it was the other way around.As one of their final assignments, seniors at the university's Shannon Rodgers and Jerry Silverman School of Fashion Design and Merchandising created couture clothing using fabrics from HGTV star Candice Olson's furniture collection. Olson designs the sofas, chairs and other pieces for Ohio's Norwalk Furniture, which supplied 213 yards of fabric for the project.This is fabric meant to hold up to bouncing kids and dog slobber, not the garment-weight materials that fashion designers typically work with. Yet the 24 students managed to turn sturdy damasks and chunky matelasses into elegant gowns — some fitted and sleek, some billowy and dramatic.The project, reminiscent of Scarlett O'Hara's drapery-fabric fashion in Gone With the Wind, was the brainchild of Norwalk Furniture and its Beachwood public relations firm, Lief & Karson Communications. They approached both Olson and the fashion school with the idea.Olson embraced it. For years, she said, she's pondered the fashion possibilities of theupholstery fabrics she works with.''Many times I've said, 'This would make such a fabulous jacket or pair of pants,' '' she said by phone from High Point, N.C., where she was promoting her collection last month. Here was an opportunity to see those fantasies realized.''They were like, no. They were not pleased,'' associate professor Sherry Schofield-Tomschin recalled with a smile. Upholstery fabric is stiff, they argued. It doesn't drape well. How in the world were they supposed to work with it?It didn't help that the students had to fit the assignment around their work on their all-important senior line, she said. Nor did it help that the project coincided with the emotional and physical burnout that's common as graduation approaches.Schofield-Tomschin admitted even she was skeptical when she first heard the idea. After she thought about it awhile, though, she realized the assignment would challenge the students.After all, when they're employed in the fashion industry, they're going to find themselves dealing with parameters beyond their control, both Olson and Schofield-Tomschin pointed out. Making it work is a lesson with real-life applications.Besides, Schofield-Tomschin noted, some of a designer's best work comes when things don't go easily or turn out the way they were planned.About 25 fabrics were chosen for the project, including many with a sheen or shimmer — an Olson trademark — as well as the oversize damasks the interior designer favors.

Senator connects with small audience

Tag: agriculture tractor The bright lights were on in the beef barn at the St. Joseph County 4-H Fairgrounds on Thursday, but it wasn't for a livestock show. The barn became the backdrop for Sen. Barack Obama's second visit to St. Joseph County, where he addressed an invitation-only crowd of a little more than 90 area residents, campaign supporters and farmers from across the region. Some said they got an e-mail that morning. Others a phone call. No matter how they found out, many said they didn't want to miss out on seeing a candidate who may become the next president. Piles of hay surrounded the chairs, picnic tables and bleachers. A tractor and an old-fashioned green-and-white wooden wagon framed the scene, along with the long lenses of photographers and television cameras, peeking over the whitewashed fence. In the center stood a single stool. As the crowd waited they leafed through an 11-page packet titled "Real Leadership for Rural Indiana" handed to them by the campaign as they entered. Among the youngest crowd members were Culver Military Academy students Trent Schafer and Rebecca Lucas. Schafer said he signed up to campaign for Obama on Wednesday. He is turning 18 next week, which is just in time to be eligible to vote in the primary. "I won't be able to vote until the next election unfortunately but I'll do everything I can to help the campaign," said Lucas, who is 16. Once Obama arrived and was introduced, he received polite applause with some in the crowd rising to their feet immediately, a small contingent slowly following along, and a third group remaining seated. The Illinois senator spoke for about 20 minutes on gas prices, energy policy, free trade, campaign finance reform and his agenda to help rural areas. He said he would create programs to encourage young people to become farmers, and encourage more sustainable and organic agriculture. "Rural America represents what's best about America," Obama said. Then it was the audience's turn. Obama took 10 questions. The questions ranged from how he would limit oil lobbyist donations to legislators, Veterans Affairs, pay equity for women, the worldwide food crisis, agricultural land preservation and free trade. After about 40 minutes, Obama thanked the crowd and asked those who didn't get to ask a question to communicate with his campaign through his Web site. Campaign staffers would do their best to reply, he said, and with people's suggestions he can craft better plans for the nation's future. This time everyone stood up and applauded the senator. "I think he will be a very strong person for us," said Lou Zobrosky, a lifelong South Bend resident. Zobrosky said he was already an Obama supporter before coming to the event. He said it's too bad that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's comments have hurt Obama, and he said he hopes voters will look beyond that. Shawn Krull, a fifth generation hog farmer from Milford, was one of the audience members who got to ask a question. He asked Obama about his thoughts on concentrated animal feeding operations. Krull said Obama answered the question the way he expected, and said he wished the senator would have addressed it with more specifics. Krull's family recently expanded their farm large enough to fall under CAFO regulations. There has to be a level playing field for livestock farms of all sizes, Krull said, adding that he believes current laws need to be enforced instead of creating stricter regulations. Another issue he wanted the senator to address is farm prices. While farm prices are up, commodity prices and other costs are "through the roof," Krull said, which means farmers aren't making any more than they did a couple of years ago. "It's good to see that he's very pro-ethanol and biodiesel," Krull said. "That does create other issues as far as driving up feed costs for livestock producers. But in the long run it really is good for the farm economy." Phil Sutton said he was impressed by Obama and said the candidate "seems to have a real empathy for the plight of people in every walk of life." Sutton, a local expert who works with farmers, said Obama highlighted some very important farm issues. "He was open to my idea of farmland preservation and that pleased me because I think that's a very important issue. He obviously did too the way he quickly responded," he said. Toting her camera, Walkerton resident Jobi Hicks said she couldn't believe Obama was here and was "astonished" at getting to hearing him speak. "You can call her Jobi 'Giddy' Hicks," family friend Gary Freymiller joked with her. "Oh please, you were giddy too," Hicks teased back. Freymiller said he liked that Obama talked about energy policy. So far, the Plymouth resident said he has tried to keep an open outlook on the election, listening to everything all three candidates have to offer. Freymiller said he may try to go to Bill Clinton's Plymouth appearance on Saturday. Obama did leave a favorable impression on him. "I guess I have to vote next week, right," he said with a smile. He paused for a moment and said, "I would say that I would vote for Senator Obama." And what will it take for Obama or his rival Hillary Clinton to win the heart of Indiana on Tuesday? Krull said in his household the war, economy, fuel prices and health insurance issues are the most important. He said whichever candidate conveys their message the best on those issues will likely move on in the process. "If he (Obama) continues to meet with the people and listen to the voters and interact with the voters just like he did today," Freymiller said, "you can't ask anything more than that."

17 investment deals worth P1.6B signed

Tag: Biscuit Processing Machinery Seventeen new foreign and local companies yesterday signed contracts committing fresh investments worth $40 million or about P1.64 billion within this special economic zone. Property developers, electronics manufacturers, a food processing equipment maker, metal fabricators and ship component builders were among those who have pledged to put in the money and hire workers. The new foreign direct investments generated by the Freeport zone include companies from the US, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Europe, along with two local firms that had signed separate contracts with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA). "The SBMA is mandated to create jobs by enticing more investors. We welcome the diversity of the new locators engaged in manufacturing, maritime services, property development and tourism-related businesses," said SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza. Yesterday's ceremonial mass contract signing was held at the Formosa Hall inside the administration building of the 300-hectare Subic Bay Industrial Park (SBIP). Mr. Arreza said the Subic Freeport remains attractive to both foreign direct investments and local companies and continues to be one of the top investment sites in the Asia-Pacific region. Subic Daesung Corp., a South Korean firm engaged in construction and operations of condominiums and hotels, restaurants and retail shops topped the list in terms of committed investments, at $15 million. Daesung Director Hong Yeul Kim said the company would also venture into English language education for Korean tourists, executives and their families. Filipino firm Subic Enerzone Corporation (SEZ), an Aboitiz-owned electric distribution utility managing the power distribution system of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, will be venturing into property and leisure by developing condominiums and hotels. SEZ Vice-President and General Manager Dante Pollescas said the Enerzone has committed $10.4 million in investments. Another Filipino firm, Palm Gold International Ltd., will invest $1.9 million. It will import gambling equipment and operate slot machine arcades. Meanwhile, American CEI World Wide, Inc. has pledged $2.35 million and will build a refurbishing, repair and quality-testing plant for printers, copiers and fax machines. Grace Tioaquen, CIE operations manager, said the company would import and export, and transfer cargo for forwarding or reshipment. Another US company, Cook Group and Pacific Associates, Inc., will set up a youth camp, corporate team building and recreational facilities, security academy and retirement village at the Ilanin forest district with total investments worth $1.4 million. Meanwhile, HCM Marine Corp., a Korean firm, will manage, broker, repair and maintain vessels, committing $50,000. Three other Koreans firms - Spoint Corp., SubicKor Corp. and Builenc Phil. Co. Ltd - will provide support and contracting services to shipbuilding giant Hanjin Heavy Industry Corp. (Phil.) for the manufacture of ship components. The combined investments of the three firms will be $400,000. South Korea's Dong Yang Food Machinery (Phils), Inc. has also pledged $468,000 for the manufacture of biscuit machinery and parts, food processing and trading. Two Japanese manufacturers - E'OS Sutro Technology Subic and Rings- three, Inc. have committed $280,000 and $220,000 respectively. Both will manufacture and fabricate electronic parts and board assembly. Likewise, Rayshine Photonics (Phils.) Corp., a Taiwanese firm that designs and assembles LCDs (liquid crystal display), will invest $100,000. Other companies that pledged investments were sporting goods retailer Bike Boutique with $300,000; convention center operator Global Dongsan Philippines with $1.2 million; and restaurant and spa operators Buma Subic and PhilKor Utopia, with $37,500 each.

Exports mark 22pc growth in Feb

The continued strong growth in demand for Bangladeshi garments helped boost the country's exports in February to US$1.199 billion, up 22 percent on the same month a year earlier.However despite February's export boom, the country missed the overall export target of July-February period by 4.21 percent, earning $8.02 billion during these first eight months of FY 2007-08.Knitwear, the largest export earner followed by woven garments, earned $3.47 billion during the time, marking a 16.43 percent growth over the same period of previous fiscal.It, however, missed the target of $ 3.51 billion for the period.Woven garments earned $3.29 billion, a 5.63 percent growth over the same period of the previous fiscal, but 5.28 per cent below the export target.Frozen food, the country's second largest export earner, showed 5.73 percent growth over the same period of previous fiscal. During the period the sector earned $ 371.93 million.Agricultural products, vegetables, tobacco, ceramic products and footwear also marked considerable growth.On the other hand, handicrafts, computer services and engineering products such as bicycle and iron chain missed the export target.Despite positive growth during the last three months since December 2007, export is still bearing the burnt of the negative growth in the fiscal year's first five months.The government has set the export target for FY 2007-08 at $14.5 billion against the backdrop of over $ 12 billion earning in previous fiscal.“If the garment sector fails to show high growth, it will be hard to meet the target,” said Fazlul Haque, president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

20-month quest ends with OK for asphalt plant

Tag: Asphalt Mixing Plant The project – a contentious issue that dragged on for 20 months – finally won approval from the Gorham Planning Board Monday night. Shaw Brothers Construction Inc. introduced plans in August 2006 for Brickyard Quarry asphalt plant, a 60-acre stone quarry with a $3 million portable asphalt plant, located on a 125-acre, industrially zoned site off Mosher Road. The plans call for replacing the portable plant with a permanent, $10 million plant. The construction company bought the land from Lachance Brick Co., which kept a parcel to sell bricks. Bricks were manufactured there for decades. The Mosher Road site is served by sewer and natural gas. The asphalt plant would have the option of being fired by either gas or oil. Planners approved the quarry in March. “The town of Gorham will be happy with this,” Jon Shaw, co-owner of Shaw Brothers Construction Inc., told the Gorham Planning Board at its meeting, where members voted unanimously, 6-0 (Michael Parker absent), to approve the project. “The neighbors won’t know it’s there.” Those neighbors were outspoken in their opposition during the lengthy, often heated, public hearing process, which began in January 2007. An asphalt plant produces pavement by mixing gravel and crushed stone with black, liquid petroleum and heating the mixture to 300 degrees. Opponents – many organized as Concerned Citizens of Gorham – cited concerns about health, noise and traffic. The plant even became an issue in November's town elections. By Monday night, only six residents attended the meeting. Theresa Dolan, who lives in a 200-year-old farmhouse near the site on Mosher Road and has horses, called the project an inappropriate use. “I will never appreciate having it as my neighbor,” said Dolan, who said she was speaking without written notes at hearings for the first time in 19 months. “We aren’t going to be proud to have a quarry and asphalt plant in Gorham,” she said. Russell Sprague of Libby Avenue, who has opposed the project, said the process has been frustrating. “I understand it’s a painstaking process,” Sprague said. Planning Board member Tom Hughes said the project was approved with twice the number of conditions of any project since he has been on the board. “We can’t change ordinances,” Hughes said. Walt Stinson of Sebago Technics in Westbrook, the project engineer, said numerous changes in plans were the result of public input. Stinson said he hadn’t seen a project more carefully reviewed or under more scrutiny. Dolan said the Planning Board had been diligent. “I appreciate your efforts,” Dolan said. Company representatives met with town planners Tuesday to discuss construction. “We want to get started as soon as we can,” Shaw said. “It’s going to take a year.” Approval of the project came on a motion by Planning Board member Mark Stelmack and seconded by Doug Boyce. A member of Concerned Citizens of Gorham declined to comment Wednesday on whether the group planned to appeal the Planning Board decision.

Who says the cricket sweater is dead?

We had an opening batsman that was never out. Well, this was what he thought. He was, of course. He was so out most weeks that we thought his bat might be a portal in the space-time continuum, something Doctor Who might slip through, plus the odd cricket ball.He did not appreciate such theories. To his mind, umpires were myopic sociopaths intent on his ruination and in cahoots with every fast bowler in the county. His name, like the many injustices he believed to have been committed against his sporting person, has long been lost in the memory, but his style remains familiar to all. He would play forward, groping at one that was cutting away, or failing to detect the line of one that had cut back, and there would be the inevitable diversionary click, or dull thud of ball against pad, and the fielding players would rise in confident appeal and the umpire's right index finger would join them and the slow troop to the pavilion would begin.There would then be the clatter of the bat thrown to the corner of the spartan dressing room and the bitter ruminations on the ocular capability and motives of the decision-maker. It had been, without doubt, going down leg side or, if caught by the wicketkeeper, he had not got a touch.During one game in which the unmistakable sound of ball against willow could have been identified by a deaf school camping four fields away during a flypast by the Red Arrows and the Prodigy's set at Glastonbury, the catch was taken at second slip, the ball having set off at a right angle with the velocity of a Gran guided mortar bomb. “Came off my boot,” said our hero, as he sat, quietly fuming in the clubhouse. This may not be cricket as recognised by the likes of Michael Vaughan, the England captain, but it will be instantly known to the many well-intentioned amateurs whose club season is beginning at the weekend, and will continue this summer through rain, shine and days when the two alternate at 15-minute intervals and just waste everybody's time. And there are more of us than there are cricketers like Vaughan.So the idea that the death knell has been sounded for the old-fashioned baggy, woollen jumper is as ridiculous as, well, an English Ashes victory on Australian soil.“Close of play for a fashion icon” was how The Times reported the arrival of the Clima-Cool cable-knit pullover, made from a man-made fibre and designed to push sweat away from the athlete's skin. Don't believe a word of it. Like grumpy openers, overweight spinners and the rain stopping at six o'clock and the sun coming out during the drive home, the old-fashioned cricket jumper will always be with us.“The cricket sweater has been my bugbear for many a year,” said Vaughan, which is a surprise considering his recent leadership calls have included what to do with a drunken vice-captain who has nearly drowned on a pedalo after a nightclub bender in the middle of a World Cup tournament. “I am delighted to see its end.”England's new kit is similar to every item of sports equipment these days, in that its key function is to redistribute perspiration. It is a surprising there is ever a water shortage, really, with the amount of sweat that is being redirected during modern competition. You could siphon off the undershirt of the average all-rounder and irrigate a small village in Ghana, given the technology, although, to the untrained observer, any sport that requires its participants to take two meal breaks - lunch and tea - not to mention several drinks intervals, would appear to require some form of kit with the ability to redistribute Bolognese stains rather than moisture. perhaps adidas, England's supplier, could produce Clima-Cool bibs.For those that have followed an England cricket tour to Australia, the sub-continent or Caribbean, there is a serious side to this. During Ashes Tests in places like Adelaide and Brisbane, temperatures pitch-side have been known to exceed 110F; in Sri Lanka, the humidity can reach 95 per cent, although in either of these situations why anyone would still be wearing a jumper of any description, Clima-Cool or not, is perhaps a bigger question. Those that are still concerned with layers in Karachi are probably already suffering heat-stroke.As for the rest of us, keeping cool is not the problem. Not much in the way of sun block required last Saturday when standing at square leg for the school cricket trials. One of the coaches remembered an April game at Fenners, the home of Cambridge University, when it grew so cold that Ray East, the Essex spin bowler, had borrowed the overcoat of a spectator and took to wearing it while fielding in the deep. The umpire took the hint and called the players in. One would imagine that very few were bemoaning the absence of light, efficient man-made fabrics that day. Soak a woollen sweater in brandy and somebody might have sucked it.The threat to the good old cricket jumper is painted as a serious one, considering that these days the replica shirt is king, and manufacturers of sports apparel believe everybody wishes to parade in the manner of the leanest, fittest, twentysomething footballer, all six packs and perfect BMI. Before flooding the market with figure hugging Clima-Cool cricket jumpers, however, it might be an idea to study the body shape of the average third XI second-change bowler. Not too many Cristiano Ronaldo lookalikes there. Not too many athletes that will be happy about specifically defining the contours of the upper body.I remember walking down the street at a recent World Cup tournament with a senior executive of the footballwear manufacturer Umbro. His company had just supplied the England team with its most state-of-the-art kit yet. It not only took sweat away, it reinvented it as mineral water, then some of it got together and cleaned your car while you were out. And it was tight. John Richmond tight. Saturday night at Turnmills tight. Coming towards us was an England supporter. He was not a thin man. In his newly purchased shirt he looked rather like a busted sofa. My friend, crestfallen, glanced in his direction and fell silent for several seconds. “Yes,” he said, finally, “we definitely had him in mind when we designed that.”So hold fire on the last rites for the baggy cricket jumper. I have a hunch it will be with us for many years yet.

Crop loss due to pest attack pegged at Rs 1.40 lakh cr

Tag: Agrochemical The Agrochemicals Policy Group, an apex body of 200 crop protection companies, has said agricultural produce loss in 2007 due to pests was estimated at Rs 1.40 lakh crore and that prudent pesticide use could cut losses, besides enhancing productivity.UN’s concern Last week, the World Bank said food prices had doubled over the last three years and it could push 100 million people in the low-income countries further into poverty. The World Bank President, Mr Robert Zoellick, appealed to Governments to provide the UN World Food Programme $500 million as emergency assistance. The United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki -Moon, too, said food crisis was looming large around the world and reached emergency proportions, while calling for short-term emergency measures in many regions and long-term efforts to increase production. Mr S. Kumarasamy, Chairman, Agrochemical Policy Group, said crop loss in India was because only a fourth of the total cropped area of 180 million hectares was treated with crop protection chemicals.5-fold return He said there was an urgent need to step-up farm output and farmers could be assured of a five-fold return on the money spent on pesticides. The agrochemical industry was keen on joining hands with the agriculture department to promote safe and judicious use of pesticides. The level of pesticide use in India was 480 gm per hectare, while it was 17,000 gm in Taiwan, 17,000 gm in Japan, and 4,500 gm in the US. In Europe, it was close to 3,000 gm a hectare. Correspondingly, crop yields in India were the lowest.Overdose a bane However, even at the present level of usage, pesticides helped enhance productivity of export-oriented crops such as tea, grapes and pomegranate, besides vegetables. Reacting to concerns over pesticide use in general, he said one should liken it to a doctor’s prescription, and over-dose was a bane.Right practices However, Dr K.S.R.K. Murthy, President, Plant Protection Association of India, Hyderabad, said pesticide use can be advocated only when right agricultural practices were followed. Taiwan, Japan and other countries followed such practices.Need-based Pesticide use was need-based and application should be only when the economic threshold level was exceeded. Strict adherence to recommended dosage, besides employing the right application method and equipment were a must, else it was better to refrain from using pesticides.

The Birthday Cake as a Milepost

SAMUEL, my 10-year-old, told me recently that one of his earliest memories was the birthday cake I made when he was 3. It was a snowman cake, for his snow-theme party. Three single layers cut into proportionate circles and frosted in stiff, white fondant icing; black gumdrop eyes and mouth; a striped scarf made by twisting together red and black shoestring licorice and a traditional carrot nose. It was quite a cake — especially for me, an advanced-beginner baker at best. So when Samuel told me he remembered it, I was proud — for the three seconds before he explained, "I remember it was scary."Well, at least he remembers it. Clearly, so do I. And I’ve found that most of the women I know, whether infrequent bakers or those who bake at the drop of a hat, mix-users or only-from-scratch types, remember the cakes they’ve baked, vividly. You know the way clothing can function in memory, outfitting important events? Well, I think cakes we’ve baked make for equally rich, if not richer, recollection. Tastes, decorations, adventures or ordeals come flooding back, coalescing around the cakes’ reasons for being — the people they were baked for and their landmark celebrations. Especially children.Not that we don’t bake cakes for adults, too. And isn’t it a lovely thing to see your father beaming like a child as his lighted cake is borne to him? But it’s a different experience setting out not merely to please but to delight a child with a cake that only you can make, one that can find you rolling up your sleeves and becoming a cake wrangler, determined to make that firehouse, caterpillar or Pokémon concoction. Why? Or, as I’ve asked myself when half the cake sticks to the pan, What could I have been thinking?There is an irresistible charm to these flight-of-fancy cakes, and fueling children’s imaginative rides in the early years is part of a parent’s job. But I think the real reason we bake far-fetched cakes is because we hear in our children’s birthday-cake requests, whether spoken or not, this: "You can do it. You’re Mom."So we bake and risk the burning, the falling and the crumbling, trying to meet our kids’ cake expectations. I’ve seen a mother struggling over caterpillar cake segments baked in bundt pans. And another fretting terribly as the gel lettering melted off the cake, making it look like one of Dalí’s surreal desert clocks.Then there’s the weird tale my friend Stina told me about a cake that is apparently a contemporary rite of passage for mothers of pre-tween girls. It’s a Barbie cake, more specifically, a Barbie-upright-in-her-bouffant-skirt cake. Using a trademarked pan, you bake the skirt, frost it (prom-pink is good) and then decorate it with edible beading, sequins or tulle. Then you’ve got to get the damsel in the dress, lowering her into the waist of the skirt-cake. But Barbie is liable to slide down past her waist, to where the cake hits her just below the bust — Maternity Barbie! Or, she might slide further, descending into the crumbling pastel volcano that is your cake, until finally, horribly, Barbie is entombed.At least now, thanks to the blogosphere, mothers have a place to commiserate and virtually share their cake triumphs and disasters. One of my favorite online sightings is a photo of a pirate treasure chest cake, spilling over with jewels, taken seconds before the birthday boy pilfered it, sending it, plundered, to the floor. The baker couldn’t bear to post the “after” shot, but she did have one of herself, cringing.I see how this royal cake-baking treatment might be perceived as another symptom of our superindulgent, competitive parenting. It shows how the ante has been upped for birthday cakes — just as for toys, camps, tutors, clothes and college. But cake baking as event or proving ground is nothing new. It’s been going on in this country since the second half of the 19th century, at least, when superior baking powders became more widely available. Cake baking reached its lofty heights with the popularization of the cake mix after World War II. Cake mixes were, and continue to be, a godsend for anyone who doesn’t want to sift flour, measure cocoa and fold in egg whites. And boxed-cake memories for birthday boys and girls are, in the end, just as sweet. Just ask my friend Alice.Alice’s mother wasn’t much of a cook, let alone a baker. She had given up her career as a chemist in the 1950s to have a family. So for Alice’s birthday, she would take her on a ceremonious trip to the supermarket where Alice would get to pick the Duncan Hines mix of her choice. Back home, they’d prepare it together. The best part was when Alice’s mother would pour some of the batter into a doll-sized pan.Those cake-baking times are at the heart of why Alice is the passionate, expert and generous baker she is today and why she bakes with Annie, her 12-year-old, every chance she gets.Ideas of mothering are an essential part of birthday cake ingredients. (More dads are baking cakes these days, but for now, birthday-cake culture still mostly revolves around mothers.) My own mother made a lot of spice cakes when I was growing up, simple rectangles with brown cinnamon frosting and raisins spelling “Happy Birthday” and our names. These were the first kind of cakes I baked for my own children. Then I set the bar higher. Maybe it was leaving New York City, moving to the suburbs and searching for the Martha within. But when my boys started toddling, their cakes also reached developmental milestones. Henry’s Pokémon cake was one of these.As with Sam’s snowman cake, here, too, I thought I’d achieved something nifty. Henry, my oldest, turning 6, was a Pokémon fanatic having a July swim party. So I came up with a swimming pool cake surrounded by Pokémon characters. I scavenged for the hard-to-find miniature critters, even soliciting other mothers for some of their kids’ stash. I made chlorine-water-colored Jell-O and a cookie diving board, then frosted and arranged the scene. Henry was appreciative. But he let me know at the time — and has ever since — that I’d put the "earth" Pokémon in the pool and the "water" Pokémon on dry land.Nowadays, my boys don’t ask a lot from me in the birthday cake department. Pretty much anything chocolate and frosted will do. Which is a little bittersweet for me, but just a little. Because the cakes I have baked live on, preserved in family lore, and in the lingering, ever-delicious memories of my children, round-faced, candlelit and filled with wishing.