90.
India
Poisoning of A Nation
1.2 Billion Lives At Stake
India has become a dumping ground for dangerous pesticides. According to a Times of India report dated Oct 30, 2010, the amount of pesticides used in eatables in India is as much as 750 times the European standards.
The report portrays an alarming picture of how the rampant use of banned pesticides in fruits and vegetables is putting at risk the life of the common man. Farmers apply pesticides such as chlordane, endrin and heptachor that can cause serious neurological problems, kidney damage and skin diseases. A documentary on the subject reveals how an indian consumes pesticides that are more than forty times what an average American would consume.
Several studies conducted so far confirm to these facts. One such study was a Delhi-based NGO Consumer-Voice. They collected sample data from various wholesale and retail shops in Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata.
“Out of five internationally-banned pesticides, four were found to be common in vegetables sold in the Indian markets. Banned pesticides were found in bitter gourd and spinach,’’ says Sisir Ghosh, head of Consumer-Voice. The banned chemicals included chlordane, a potent central nervous system toxin, endrin, which can cause headache nausea and dizziness, and heptachor that can damage the liver and decrease fertility.
Tests conducted on vegetables at the government-approved and NABL-accredited laboratory, Arbro Analytical Division, revealed that the Indian ladies finger contained captan, a toxic pesticide, up to 15,000 parts per billion (ppb) whereas ladies finger in the EU has captan only up to 20 ppb. “Indian cauliflower can have malathion pesticide up to 150 times higher than the European standards,’’ says an official.
The vegetables studied included potato, tomato, snake gourd, pumpkin, cabbage, cucumber and bottle gourd, among others. “We have informed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India about the excessive use of pesticides in fruits and vegetables that pose serious health hazards,’’ says Ghosh. He adds that strict monitoring from government agencies is required to check manufacture, import and use of banned pesticides. The pesticide residue limits have not been reviewed for the past 30 years.
In another survey, the consumer organisation conducted tests on fruits sold in Indian markets which again showed that 12 fruits, including bananas, apple and grapes, had high quantity of pesticides, violating both Indian and European Union standards. The chemical contents found in fruits were endosuplhan, captan, thiacloprid, parathion and DDT residues.
The report portrays an alarming picture of how the rampant use of banned pesticides in fruits and vegetables is putting at risk the life of the common man. Farmers apply pesticides such as chlordane, endrin and heptachor that can cause serious neurological problems, kidney damage and skin diseases. A documentary on the subject reveals how an indian consumes pesticides that are more than forty times what an average American would consume.
Several studies conducted so far confirm to these facts. One such study was a Delhi-based NGO Consumer-Voice. They collected sample data from various wholesale and retail shops in Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata.
“Out of five internationally-banned pesticides, four were found to be common in vegetables sold in the Indian markets. Banned pesticides were found in bitter gourd and spinach,’’ says Sisir Ghosh, head of Consumer-Voice. The banned chemicals included chlordane, a potent central nervous system toxin, endrin, which can cause headache nausea and dizziness, and heptachor that can damage the liver and decrease fertility.
Tests conducted on vegetables at the government-approved and NABL-accredited laboratory, Arbro Analytical Division, revealed that the Indian ladies finger contained captan, a toxic pesticide, up to 15,000 parts per billion (ppb) whereas ladies finger in the EU has captan only up to 20 ppb. “Indian cauliflower can have malathion pesticide up to 150 times higher than the European standards,’’ says an official.
The vegetables studied included potato, tomato, snake gourd, pumpkin, cabbage, cucumber and bottle gourd, among others. “We have informed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India about the excessive use of pesticides in fruits and vegetables that pose serious health hazards,’’ says Ghosh. He adds that strict monitoring from government agencies is required to check manufacture, import and use of banned pesticides. The pesticide residue limits have not been reviewed for the past 30 years.
In another survey, the consumer organisation conducted tests on fruits sold in Indian markets which again showed that 12 fruits, including bananas, apple and grapes, had high quantity of pesticides, violating both Indian and European Union standards. The chemical contents found in fruits were endosuplhan, captan, thiacloprid, parathion and DDT residues.
The Slow Poisoning of India - A Film
The Slow Poisoning of India is a 26-minute documentary film directed by Ramesh Menon and produced by the New Delhi-based The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). It deals with the dangers of excessive use of pesticide in agriculture. India is one of the largest users of pesticide in Asia and also one of the largest importers and manufactures. The toxins have entered into the food chain and into our breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The film showcases startling case studies from Kerala where villagers in Kasaragod district are paying a heavy price as it has been exposed to pesticide spraying for many years. It talks of the health impacts in other parts of India and also on how the magic of the green revolution in Punjab is fading as land and water bodies are poisoned.
Farmers use pesticides carelessly. Some use the wrong chemical, while others overuse. Many harvest immediately after spraying. Annunal consumption is nearly 90,000 tonnes and it’s rising rapidly.
But some farmers are bouncing back into better practices, and this is a silver lining shown towards the end. “Many farmers are now switching from chemcial to organic farming as they see that it is the only way out of getting into a spiralling whirlpool of debt created by the high cost of pesticides. Farmers like Tokia Modu in Warangal are waging a silent biological war against pests and are winning.
(The film can be ordered at [email protected])
The film showcases startling case studies from Kerala where villagers in Kasaragod district are paying a heavy price as it has been exposed to pesticide spraying for many years. It talks of the health impacts in other parts of India and also on how the magic of the green revolution in Punjab is fading as land and water bodies are poisoned.
Farmers use pesticides carelessly. Some use the wrong chemical, while others overuse. Many harvest immediately after spraying. Annunal consumption is nearly 90,000 tonnes and it’s rising rapidly.
But some farmers are bouncing back into better practices, and this is a silver lining shown towards the end. “Many farmers are now switching from chemcial to organic farming as they see that it is the only way out of getting into a spiralling whirlpool of debt created by the high cost of pesticides. Farmers like Tokia Modu in Warangal are waging a silent biological war against pests and are winning.
(The film can be ordered at [email protected])
Indian Government - Putting 1.2 Billion Lives On The Line
Present Indian government is completely ignoring the indigenous agricultural methods and techniques which have been in practice in India for more than 50 centuries. These have been proven suitable to the climate and conditions on the sub-continent. This deliberate neglect reeks of foul play and is nothing less than a criminal act.
Hundreds of thousands of farmers are successfully practicing organic farming and outproducing farmers who use synthetic pesticides. But the government is turning a blind eye to all these eco-friendly technologies and brazenly promoting pesticide use.
Cow is farmer’s best friend and corporation is his worst enemy. The government is killing cows and befriending corporations. The sorry outcome of this is a farmer’s suicide every 15 minutes. Cow dung and urine are the best fertilizer and pesticide. Countless rich and happy farmers will testify to this fact.
But the government’s agenda is anything but welfare of the common man. Following news report shows the government’s complicity in this regard.
Hundreds of thousands of farmers are successfully practicing organic farming and outproducing farmers who use synthetic pesticides. But the government is turning a blind eye to all these eco-friendly technologies and brazenly promoting pesticide use.
Cow is farmer’s best friend and corporation is his worst enemy. The government is killing cows and befriending corporations. The sorry outcome of this is a farmer’s suicide every 15 minutes. Cow dung and urine are the best fertilizer and pesticide. Countless rich and happy farmers will testify to this fact.
But the government’s agenda is anything but welfare of the common man. Following news report shows the government’s complicity in this regard.
National Conference To Promote Pesticides
Latha Jishnu, Down To Earth, Jan 15, 2011
The timing and the message of the conference could not have been more stark. At a time when the endosulfan problem is in the limelight, sparking calls for a nationwide ban on the pesticide, its manufacturers staged a remarkable feat.
They held a three-day conference on rural prosperity at Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan, venue for high-power official meetings, and put across the message that the hazardous chemicals are safe. Their biggest coup: roping in President Pratibha Patil to inaugurate the event.
Organised by Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI), formerly Pesticides Association of India, the association of the 45 leading pesticides manufacturers, the conference had both the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers as partners for the three-day conference.
The high-profile event also roped in related industries: seed, fertiliser and processed food. It was a powerful showing with leading sponsors such as Monsanto India, Excel Crop Care and United Phosphorus (UPL) along with the association of the biotech industry (ABLE) and the National Seeds Association of India.
Excel Crop Care is a subsidiary of Excel Industries, the leading endosulfan producer, and a sister concern of UPL. With the campaign against endosulfan gaining momentum in Kerala, it is obvious why the pesticides lobby was keen to organise such a seminar.
It claimed “rural prosperity through better agriculture” as its theme but the conference had minimal participation from the farmers: just Sharad Joshi, president of Shetkari Sanghatana of Pune.
Krishi Bhavan, headquarters of the agriculture ministry, had no convincing argument to justify its partnership with CCFI, which is chaired by Raju D Shroff, chairman and managing director of UPL.
Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, the main speaker, focused on the pet theme of the ministry: increasing private sector participation in agriculture services. He said the new momentum in Indian agriculture meant “the private sector has a critical role in meeting the demand of higher investment, inputs and services in agriculture”. Kerala, though, was incensed by the open display of cosiness between the endosulfan lobby and the government.
The strongest criticism came from Congress stalwart V M Sudheeran who has been in the forefront of the campaign against endosulfan. “When the country is asking for a ban on the hazardous pesticide, I am completely at a loss to hear the Ministry of Agriculture had organised an agricultural development seminar sponsored by none other than the producers of endosulfan,” he wrote to Pawar.
Sudheeran, a former member of Parliament, is a highly regarded member of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee. His letter summed up the shock and anger such an event has occasioned, more so since it was used to promote endosulfan. “The irony is that when thousands have been killed by this chemical and many more seriously impacted in the villages of Kasaragod, the pesticides industry has used the good offices of the ministry to unleash its propaganda that endosulfan is a safe chemical.”
He was referring to the fact that Arun V Dhuri, vice-president (registration & business development) of Excel Crop Care, had facilitated the discussion on the “truth and falsehoods and remedies” regarding pesticides and had used the occasion to depict endosulfan as harmless.
CCFI, formerly Pesticides Association of India, puts the total value of agro-chemicals produced in the country at Rs 13,000 crore, of which exports account Rs 7,000 crore. A recent report by Rabobank, which pegs the production of pesticides at Rs 7,000 crore, says 50 percent of the domestic market is controlled by multinational corporations.
The event was also used for pushing genetically modified (GM) crops. According to CCFI, one of the key aims of the conference was to promote technological innovation. “If a second Green Revolution is to ramp up food production, quicker green signals are needed on GM,” it said.
They held a three-day conference on rural prosperity at Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan, venue for high-power official meetings, and put across the message that the hazardous chemicals are safe. Their biggest coup: roping in President Pratibha Patil to inaugurate the event.
Organised by Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI), formerly Pesticides Association of India, the association of the 45 leading pesticides manufacturers, the conference had both the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers as partners for the three-day conference.
The high-profile event also roped in related industries: seed, fertiliser and processed food. It was a powerful showing with leading sponsors such as Monsanto India, Excel Crop Care and United Phosphorus (UPL) along with the association of the biotech industry (ABLE) and the National Seeds Association of India.
Excel Crop Care is a subsidiary of Excel Industries, the leading endosulfan producer, and a sister concern of UPL. With the campaign against endosulfan gaining momentum in Kerala, it is obvious why the pesticides lobby was keen to organise such a seminar.
It claimed “rural prosperity through better agriculture” as its theme but the conference had minimal participation from the farmers: just Sharad Joshi, president of Shetkari Sanghatana of Pune.
Krishi Bhavan, headquarters of the agriculture ministry, had no convincing argument to justify its partnership with CCFI, which is chaired by Raju D Shroff, chairman and managing director of UPL.
Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, the main speaker, focused on the pet theme of the ministry: increasing private sector participation in agriculture services. He said the new momentum in Indian agriculture meant “the private sector has a critical role in meeting the demand of higher investment, inputs and services in agriculture”. Kerala, though, was incensed by the open display of cosiness between the endosulfan lobby and the government.
The strongest criticism came from Congress stalwart V M Sudheeran who has been in the forefront of the campaign against endosulfan. “When the country is asking for a ban on the hazardous pesticide, I am completely at a loss to hear the Ministry of Agriculture had organised an agricultural development seminar sponsored by none other than the producers of endosulfan,” he wrote to Pawar.
Sudheeran, a former member of Parliament, is a highly regarded member of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee. His letter summed up the shock and anger such an event has occasioned, more so since it was used to promote endosulfan. “The irony is that when thousands have been killed by this chemical and many more seriously impacted in the villages of Kasaragod, the pesticides industry has used the good offices of the ministry to unleash its propaganda that endosulfan is a safe chemical.”
He was referring to the fact that Arun V Dhuri, vice-president (registration & business development) of Excel Crop Care, had facilitated the discussion on the “truth and falsehoods and remedies” regarding pesticides and had used the occasion to depict endosulfan as harmless.
CCFI, formerly Pesticides Association of India, puts the total value of agro-chemicals produced in the country at Rs 13,000 crore, of which exports account Rs 7,000 crore. A recent report by Rabobank, which pegs the production of pesticides at Rs 7,000 crore, says 50 percent of the domestic market is controlled by multinational corporations.
The event was also used for pushing genetically modified (GM) crops. According to CCFI, one of the key aims of the conference was to promote technological innovation. “If a second Green Revolution is to ramp up food production, quicker green signals are needed on GM,” it said.
