Kisan kavach

About Kisan kavach:

• It is a 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.
• Features
  • 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. 
  • Working: This Kisan Kavach fabric can deactivate pesticides upon contact through nucleophilic mediated hydrolysis, thereby preventing pesticide-induced toxicity and lethality. 
  • The kit retained its potency in a wide temperature range, under UV-light exposure and was protective even after a 150 washes

Q1: What is Hydrolysis?

It is a chemical reaction in which a chemical compound is broken down by reaction with water. 

News: Scientists develop ‘kisan kavach’ to shield farmers from pesticide sprays