No cancer link with fertilisers: Centre

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 2

Union Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Narendra Singh Tomar today said there was no scientific evidence to link cancer with the use of fertilisers for growing crops.

Replying to Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, Tomar cited a report of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to say that there was so far no evidence to prove that the use of fertilisers caused cancer.

Read also: Scientists, studies junk Centre’s claim on cancer

Bittu raised the matter as regards prevalence of cancer in the state and its possible causes. He said arsenic found in water in Punjab area entered the food chain, posing a risk to human health.

Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala said, “Punjab has not accepted the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. You should go there and tell this. If you want to help cancer patients, you should accept it.”

 Of Punjab’s cancer belt malwa

• Glyphosate, a commonly used herbicide in Punjab, was banned six months ago after scientific studies showed it caused rare kidney and pancreatic cancers. “We got it banned,” says Prof JS Thakur, PGIMER, Chandigarh
• As per a study, the incidence of cancer in Punjab’s cotton belt Malwa is dramatically high owing to indiscriminate use of pesticides.