Word: pyrethrum
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...part because Tanzanian farmers lacked incentives to cooperate. As a result, production of Tanzania's key export crops (coffee, cotton, tea, pyrethrum and sisal) is 40% lower than it was in 1970. The manufacturing sector, which was also taken over by the state, has fared no better. Mainly because of a lack of foreign exchange to buy raw materials and spare parts, many factories are now operating at less than 20% of capacity. That has sparked a vicious circle of economic decline. Without consumer goods to buy, farmers produce only enough food for themselves, which in turn means even...
...buying as many as 15 materials for the National Defense Stockpile. In addition to high-temperature metals used in jet engines, such as cobalt, titanium and columbium, the Government will consider buying oddities like sisal fibers, a key ingredient for rope; castor-bean oil, a high-quality lubricant; and pyrethrum, an insecticide. While the amounts are not yet great, they represent a new direction in policy. Said Congressman James Santini, a Democrat from Nevada, "This is both a substantive and symbolic beginning. It's long overdue...
...chemical controls. During the late Middle Ages, people attempted to control tree-destroying insects by exposing the roots of afflicted trees, pouring in old wine lees and then closing the hole. Infusions of tobacco were used in France as early as 1690 to fight lace bugs on pear trees. Pyrethrum, a compound obtained from the chrysanthemum family, was used as far back as 1800 to kill fleas. Rotenone, which can be extracted from various plants, was introduced in 1848 to attack leaf-eating caterpillars. Synthetic insecticides were introduced during the 19th century, and one?Paris green?was used against...
...leafhoppers and spittlebugs. Such nat ural predators as birds, ladybugs and lacewings wreak havoc with aphids, caterpillars and oak moths. When poisons must be used, the problem is how to avoid overkill. The preferred pesticides are "botanicals," or natural poisons extracted from plants-for example, nicotine sulphate, rotenone and pyrethrum. Their effectiveness, though, is limited to certain chewing pests and sucking insects, such as Diabrotica and thrips. Some synthetic poisons, for example diazinon, kill more kinds of bugs than botanicals but are also more persistent. The newest synthetic poisons are the highly toxic "systemics" (Di-syston and Meta-systox...
...liberal leader in Kenya today. Thirty-five years ago, he turned down the chance of a legal career in England after school (Wellington), and with ?100 and a shotgun made his way to Kenya to work as a farmer. Today Blundell's 1,200 acres of asparagus, pyrethrum and dairy-cattle land, in the lovely Subukia hills about 70 miles northwest of Nairobi, are so prosperous that he can devote most of his time to public affairs...