Vembu said that people must respect farmers, as well as take care of soil and all its microorganisms….reports Asian Lite News
Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu, on Saturday, said that it is important to revere farmers and connect back with nature.
In a post on X.com, Vembu said that people must respect farmers, as well as take care of soil and all its microorganisms.
The CEO of the global software-as-a-service (SaaS) company said this amid reports that Singapore’s food regulator has recalled Indian manufacturer Everest’s fish curry masala as it showed high levels of the pesticide ethylene oxide — a Group-1 carcinogen.
“Arsenic in our rice, pesticides in our spices … the damage of industrialised agriculture accumulates,” Vembu said.
“If we don’t respect the farmer, if we don’t take care of the soil and all its microorganisms, if we don’t take care of ponds or lakes and instead keep drilling deeper and deeper for (arsenic-laden) water, we will destroy ourselves as a species.”
“We have to revere the people who grow our food so they in turn treat soil and water with reverence. We have to connect back with nature,” he added.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s food regulator also found the cancer-causing ingredient in products of MDH, the famous spice brand in India.
It found that the MDH’s Madras Curry Powder, Sambhar Masala Mixed Masala Powder, and Curry Powder Mixed Masala Powder contained pesticide ethylene oxide.
According to a statement from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), ethylene oxide is not fit for consumption, but is “used to fumigate agricultural products to prevent microbial contamination.”
“Members of the public should not consume the affected products. The trade should also stop using or selling the affected products immediately if they possess any of them,” said the Centre for Food Safety, Hong Kong’s food regulatory authority.
Meanwhile, Sridhar Vembu said on Wednesday that they have created first-of-its-kind power tools that are ready for commercial production.
Called ‘Karuvi’ (the Tamil word for instrument or tool), the hand-held tools will help create more rural jobs in the country.
“A few years ago, during the pandemic, a Zoho customer and fan, Abdul Gafoor, who owns ‘Mr Light Global’, a major own-brand distributor of electrical and electronics products in the Middle-East (and now in India), came to see me in Tenkasi with a box full of hand held tools from his company,” Vembu posted on X social media platform.
Gafoor told the Zoho founder to make these products and then, he would distribute them.
“I said, we know nothing about it. He said this could create rural jobs. That is how he hooked me,” said Vembu.
The software company took up the challenge and set up a small engineering team almost two years ago.
A lot of designs and redesigns later, Zoho now has built a suite of tools ready for commercial production.
“We are trying some innovative ideas in the factory being built in Tenkasi. A new adventure begins. Thank you Mr Gafoor for pushing me on this! Thank you Cibi Anand for suggesting the name,” Vembu added.
An X follower commented that he was looking to populate the “rural maker-space with power tools from Stanley”.
“But now, it’s going to be ‘Karuvi’ all the way, looking forward to getting every product you have in production,” he posted.
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