Syngenta Says It Will Stop Making Pesticide Linked to Parkinson’s Disease

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By Carey Gillam

Syngenta, maker of a controversial pesticide linked to Parkinson’s disease, said on Tuesday that it would stop making its paraquat weed killer by the end of June.

The announcement comes as the company is facing several thousand lawsuits brought by people in the US who allege they developed Parkinson’s disease due to their exposure to Syngenta’s paraquat products.

The company did not mention the litigation in its announcement.

The announcement cites “significant competition” from generic producers of paraquat and a “less than 1 percent” contribution to the company’s global sales as reasons for exiting the paraquat business.

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Trump Issues Order to Support Production of Glyphosate

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By Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON, D.C. — US President Donald Trump issued an executive order Wednesday aimed at supporting US glyphosate production, arguing that the herbicide, which the WHO says is a probable carcenogenic, is essential to the country’s food security.

The White House said that glyphosate-based herbicides are widely used in American agriculture, but there is only one domestic producer, necessitating imports.

The executive order tasks the US secretary of agriculture to take measures to facilitate the US production of glyphosate and phosphorus, a chemical component necessary for glyphosate but which also has military uses.

While the US Environmental Protection Agency does not consider glyphosate a carcinogen, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is part of the World Health Organization (WHO), classifies it as a “probable carcinogen.”

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Gardening Experts Issue a Warning About Soil Problems Spreading Fast in 2026

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By Brandon Marcus

Something strange is happening in gardens, farms, and backyard beds across the country, and seasoned growers are starting to sound the alarm. Plants look healthy one week and suddenly struggle the next, harvests shrink for no obvious reason, and once-reliable soil starts acting like it has a mind of its own. Gardening experts aren’t pointing to bugs or bad seeds this time—they’re pointing underground.

The issue isn’t flashy, dramatic, or easy to spot, which makes it even more dangerous for everyday gardeners. In 2026, soil health is becoming one of the biggest hidden threats to successful gardening, and ignoring it could cost you entire seasons of growth.

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‘Pesticide Cocktails’ Polluting Apples Across Europe, Study Finds

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By Agence France-Presse

Environmental groups have raised the alarm after finding toxic “pesticide cocktails” in apples sold across Europe.

Pan Europe, a coalition of NGOs campaigning against pesticide use, had about 60 apples bought in 13 European countries – including France, Spain, Italy and Poland – analysed for chemical residues.

Eighty-five percent of the samples contained several pesticide residues, the organisations said, with some apples showing traces of up to seven different chemicals.

Pan Europe advised consumers to buy organic apples or peel conventionally grown ones before eating them.

In 71% of cases, Pan Europe detected pesticides classed among the most hazardous in the EU – so-called “candidates for substitution” that the bloc aims to phase out as soon as possible.

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The Underground Network

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By Paul Tullis

On the eastern flank of the tiny constitutional monarchy of Lesotho, about 225 kilometers from Durban, South Africa, sits the village of Ha Mokoto. Its residents are eking out a living in a manner not dissimilar to how their ancestors eked out a living 200 years ago, when Basotho people, led by King Moshoeshoe I, fled to the mountains to escape colonial strife in what is today South Africa. They tend to livestock and grow corn and sorghum, a starchy grain similar to quinoa or bulgur that’s cooked in large pots and stirred with a long stick into a thick paste. Circular homes called rondavels are fashioned from a base of stones and mortar made out of dung and fine dirt harvested from termite mounds and topped with a conical roof of grass supported by beams from poplar trees.

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