Punjab Government bans 11 pesticides for basmati crops

The state government has imposed a complete ban on use of 11 pesticides on basmati crops.Chief Agriculture Officer Dr Gurnam Singh said problems were being faced in exporting basmati rice in which the presence of some pesticides exceeded the prescribed limit. Due to this, farmers were facing difficulty in getting good price for the produce, prompting the state government to impose a complete ban on the use of 11 pesticides on basmati crops.

He appealed to the farmers to not use acephate, buprofezin, chlorpyrifos, carbofuran, propiconazole, thiamethoxam, profenophos, imidacloprid, carbendazim, tricyclazole, tebuconazole and all their formulations, including mixtures, on the basmati crop.

He said dealers wishing to sell these banned pesticides for any other crop would have to record the name of the crop on the bill or cash memo. He added that all dealers in the district would have to keep a complete record of the sale of these 11 pesticides.