Excessive pesticide use weighing down agri sector

Harender Raj Gautam

THE presence of pesticide residue in food is considered to be a worldwide public health concern. Despite a low per-hectare use (290 gm) of pesticides in India, their injudicious use imperils the health of farm workers and consumers. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court asked the Union Government to explain the reason behind banning merely three pesticides, said to be highly carcinogenic, even as expert committees constituted for the purpose had recommended a ban on 27 such pesticides. The court made these observations while hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the February 2023 order of the Centre banning three pesticides. One of the petitioners had earlier approached the court after the pesticide poisoning incidents that were reported in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra in November 2017. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare had on May 18, 2020, issued the draft order on banning 27 pesticides that it considered harmful for animals and humans. The original notification had listed the cause for banning each of the 27 pesticides, ranging from endocrine disruption, carcinogenic impurities, being highly toxic, being toxic to aquatic organisms, birds and honey bees, contamination of dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane (DDT) and other reasons. The decision to ban the 27 pesticides had been taken after a four-member expert committee led by Anupam Varma reviewed a total of 66 pesticides currently in use before submitting its report in 2015. The report recommended a complete ban on 13 pesticides, a review of 27 others in 2018, and phasing out of six by 2020, among other measures. However, the petitions contended that even the Verma Committee’s mandate was narrowed by the government to 66 pesticides, when there are at least 99 pesticides being used in India which have been banned or restricted elsewhere in the world.

In April 2018, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to take a decision on banning 18 pesticides within two months. Consequently, the Central Insecticides Board & Registration Committee deliberated on the Verma Committee’s recommendations and reiterated the same. Consequently, the ministry issued a notification on August 8, 2018, to invite objections to the move to ban 18 pesticides. However, no further action in the matter was taken. In 2020, the ministry set up another expert committee, headed by SK Khurana, to have a relook into the issue; this panel, too, recommended banning of 27 pesticides. However, all the three reports were not acted upon by the government. In 2022, the government set up another committee, headed by TP Rajendran, that recommended the banning of only three pesticides — dicofol, dinocap and methomyl.

About 52,466 metric tonnes of chemical pesticides were used in agriculture across the country in 2022-23. Presently, 299 pesticides and their 792 formulations of different types are registered in India. Several studies indicate that pesticide poisonings have been rising sharply for years. In 1990, a WHO task force estimated that about one million unintentional pesticide poisonings with severe manifestations occurred annually, leading to around 20,000 deaths. Now, the cases of unintentional poisoning have increased to 385 million, probably due to the intensified pesticide use across the globe. The number of fatalities around the world from unintended pesticide poisonings are estimated at some 11,000 per year. Most of the victims live in developing countries, where environmental, health and safety regulations are often the weakest; 60 per cent of the deaths related to pesticide poisonings occur in India. Further, the use of highly hazardous pesticides is also a reason for the high poisoning rate. The five largest producers of chemical pesticides sell only 12 and 11 per cent of highly dangerous pesticides out of total pesticide sales in Germany and France, respectively, in comparison to 59 per cent sales of highly dangerous pesticides in India.

In 2022, the US Environmental Working Group found that over 70 per cent of non-organic fresh produce contained residue of potentially harmful pesticides. The European Food Safety Authority, in its 2020 report, found that 29.7% of the produce contained pesticide residue equal to or below the permitted limit, while 1.7% exceeded the limit. In Europe, soil analyses revealed that more than 80 per cent of 317 agricultural top soils tested contained pesticide residue. A review of nearly 400 published studies found that pesticides harmed organisms, including bacteria, fungi and soil fauna — vital for maintaining soil health — in over 70% of the experiments included in this review. Pesticide residue in soil is also associated with a decline in the growth of earthworms, microorganisms and symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi which provide nutrients to plants.

In India, between April 2014 and March 2019, 1,18,062 samples were collected and analysed; residue in 2,923 (2.5%) samples was found exceeding the Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs). In another study in India, residue of 56 pesticides were detected in vegetables, with the highest percentage of positive samples in capsicum (69.7%), followed by brinjal (36.6%), cucurbits (34%) and tomato (30.3%).

Aerial spraying of endosulfan in the cashew estates of Kasaragod, Kerala, caused severe health hazards and deaths. The Supreme Court, in its order in May 2011, observed that right to life was of paramount consideration, even as it banned pesticide endosulfan in the country after the horrible consequences of its effects were seen in Kasaragod. In October 2018, around 40 farmers died and 800 were hospitalised in Maharashtra due to alleged poisoning with monocrotophos, a pesticide banned in scores of countries.

There is a dire need to take judicious decisions on the use of hazardous chemical pesticides which are being unsuspectingly consumed by us in our food.

The author is a former Professor and Head, Dept of Plant Pathology, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan

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#Agriculture #Supreme Court