Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Notice (8): Undefined variable: urlPrefix [APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8]latest-news-updates/why-india-continues-to-use-lethal-pesticides-sonam-taneja-4683291.html"/> LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Why India continues to use lethal pesticides -Sonam Taneja | Im4change.org
Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Why India continues to use lethal pesticides -Sonam Taneja
-Down to Earth

Death of cotton farmers due to pesticide poisoning in the Vidarbha region raises vital questions about the government's attitude towards regulation of toxic pesticides

One more evil has reared its ugly head in Maharashtra’s arid Vidarbha region, which has so far been infamous for farmer suicides. Some 35 farmers in the region have died of pesticide poisoning in last four months. Most of them were working in cotton and soybean fields and had inadvertently inhaled pesticides while spraying on crops. The death toll is highest in Yavatmal district, where 18 farmers died between July and the first week of November. Similar incidents have also been reported from Nagpur, Akola and Amravati districts.

B S Yelke, head of the medicine department at Shri Vasantrao Naik Government Medical College in Yavatmal, says, some 479 poisoning cases have been referred to the hospital since July. Most of them complained of giddiness, vomiting, loose motions, irritation, watering of the eyes and blurred vision. “At present, 10 patients are undergoing treatment. Of them, three are critical and one is on ventilator support,” Yelke told Down To Earth on November 2.

The incidents have given rise to apprehension about the pesticides used in the region. “People in my village are scared of using pesticides after it took my father’s life on October 1,” says 20-year-old Prateeksha G Fulmali of Sawargaon village in Yavatmal’s Kalamb block. “Why does the government allow the use of such pesticides that are potentially lethal for people?” she asks.

Following the incidents, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered a probe by Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the deaths. While SIT was yet to submit its report when the magazine went to press, on October 12, the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), a nationwide network of farmers’ organisations, released its fact-finding report and blamed toxic pesticides like monocrotophos, oxydemetonmethyl, acephate, profenofos, fipronil, imidacloprid and cypermethrin used in different combinations for the deaths. Members of ASHA prepared the report after visiting Kalamb and Aarni blocks of Yavatmal on October 9 and 10. On November 1, as an immediate measure, the state government banned five pesticides—formulations of acephate, monocrotophos, diafenthiuron, profenofos and cypermethrin, and fipronil and imidacloprid—for 60 days in Yavatmal, Akola, Amravati and neighbouring Buldhana and Washim.

This is not the first time people have died or been hospitalised because of accidental pesticide poisoning. According to ASHA, six farmers had died of pesticide poisoning last year in Yavatmal district; at least 176 people were hospitalised. Data with the National Crime Records Bureau shows that in 2015, some 7,060 people in the country died due to accidental pesticide poisoning. In 2013, some 23 children died in Dhar mashati Gandaman village in Bihar’s Saran district after consuming mid-day meal tainted with traces of monocrotophos. A January 2002 report by four organisations—Toxics Link, Sarvodaya Youth Orga nisation, the Centre for Resource Educa tion and Community Health Cell—highlights farmers’ deaths in Warangal district of Telangana after spraying of pesticides. These incidents highlight the casual attitude of the government towards regulating toxic pesticides.

Lax rules for risky pesticides

Consider this. Two of the pesticides blamed for the recent deaths—monocrotophos and oxydemetonmethyl—are classified as Class I pesticides by the World Health Org anization (WHO) because of their acute toxicity. Class I pesticides contain ingredients that are extremely hazardous (Class Ia) or highly hazardous (Class Ib). A few grams of these pesticides can prove lethal for an average adult. They are banned in several countries, including the EU. However, they are widely used in India. In fact, 18 Class I pesticides are registered for use under the Central Insecticides Board and Registra tion Committee (CIBRC), which looks after pesticide registration. As per the data available with the Directorate of Plant Prote ction, Quarantine and Storage, a body under the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Class I insecticides (pesticides) accounted for close to 30 per cent of India’s total consumption of insecticides (pesticides) by weight in 2015-16 (see ‘Grave danger’,).

In 2013, the Union agriculture ministry set up an expert committee under the chairmanship of Anupam Verma, former professor, Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi, to review 66 pesticides banned in several countries, but used in India. The committee reviewed 11 of the 18 Class I pesticides registered in India. Based on its recommendations, the ministry has proposed to ban three Class I pesticides from 2018 and another four from 2021. Neither monocrotophos nor oxyde metonmethyl figure in the list of pesticides scheduled to be banned.

Awareness is vital

“Every year, there are about 10,000 reported cases of pesticide poisoning in India. The agriculture ministry and state agricultural departments are solely responsible for this unsafe use of pesticides in the country,” says Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general of Delhi non-profit Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). “Deaths and illnesses due to pesticides can be avoided if we can urgently fix some of the crucial gaps in regulations and improve enforcement,” he adds. In 2005, CSE conducted a study on Punjab farmers and found residues of various pesticides in their blood.

Devanand Pawar, convenor of Shetkari Nyaya Hakka Andolan Samiti, a farmer’s rights association based in Maharashtra, explains how the government is responsible for the pesticide poisoning in Vidarbha. Most farmers in the region spray excessive pesticides to tackle pink bollworm infestation found in cotton and suffered from the exposure. This is because agriculture departments do not teach farmers how to use pesticides safely. The government should also ensure that farmers use protective gears while spraying pesticides, Pawar says.

Please click here to read more.