Educate farmers on proper use of pesticides….

It seems that our innocent and ignorant farmers, unaware of the repercussions of chemicals they use as pesticides for their crops, are feeding us into a slow death of sorts. Pesticide spraying is turning into the biggest issue to never have been addressed. Higher demands for certain crops have forced farmers to increase the rounds of pesticide sprays, but the problem is the cocktail of dangerous chemicals used for the purpose.

Not only is our health at risk, but also that of the farmers themselves, because they do not put on any protective gear while using pesticides. Hence they are easy victims to health problems like cancer, mental retardation, and infertility among others. Any pesticide sprayed on the fields also drifts and contaminates the nearby soil and water sources nearby, endangering the lives of so many people. The government has banned DDT and some other organochlorides as pesticides, but they have not done so for endosulfan, which is also a very fatal chemical. In fact India is one of the largest users of Class 1A pesticides by WHO standards, which are supposed to be the most hazardous.

The worry is there is little thought to an Integrated Pest Management System. Farmers do not have basic knowledge of how to use pesticides. In some areas, they mix pesticides and use a cocktail, without thinking an iota about its side effects. In most cases, labelling on bottles is not effective as it cannot be done in local languages. There is no information either on product hazards or appropriate methods of storage and handling. Even worse, many people use the empty pesticide bottles to store diesel or kerosene. India also has about 200 tons of obsolete pesticides which have not been disposed off.

High pesticide residues in many of our crops like cardamom have reduced its export by a huge amount. This is a huge setback for our farmers too, leave aside the state exchequer. Farmers have to be made aware of the proper usage of pesticides such as endosulfan so that they can mitigate long term health impacts for themselves as well as for us. Our leaders already know that India is a country which has an agricultural economy, but I hope they realize that too.