Kisan Kavach:
The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology unveiled Kisan Kavach.
- It is first-of-its-kind anti-pesticide bodysuit designed to protect farmers from the harmful effects of pesticide exposure.
- The suit is intended to protect farm labourers from imbibing the pesticides they spray. Several of the common pesticides are potential neurotoxins and detrimental to health.
- It is developed by the Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council (BRIC-inStem), Bangalore, in collaboration with Sepio Health Pvt. Ltd.
- The kit consists of a trouser, pullover, and a face-cover made of ‘oxime fabric’ that can chemically breakdown any of the common pesticides that get sprayed onto cloth or body during spraying operations.
- This prevents chemicals from leaching into the skin. The price per kit is ₹4,000.
- This Kisan Kavach fabric can deactivate pesticides upon contact through nucleophilic mediated hydrolysis, thereby preventing pesticide-induced toxicity and lethality.
- The kit retains its potency in a wide temperature range, under UV-light exposure and was protective even after 150 washes.
