The recent episode of the Satyamev Jayate which dealt
with the harmful and long-term negative effects of pesticides projected a sorry
state of the farmers in the country due to their usage of pesticides. It
managed to grab eyeballs with a few experts citing certain surveys which said
that rampant use of pesticides in the country is affecting human health, flora,
fauna and the environment in general.
But how relevant are these surveys and the NGOs which
raised a hue and cry on the issue? India
is the second biggest country in the world in value of agricultural production
with a value of 210 billion dollars. We have less agricultural area per person
than before, our lands have degraded, more villagers are quitting farming, shortage
of labour & water, climate change affects agriculture. How come we now
produce record levels of food grains, fruits and vegetables than before and
feed 1.2 billion Indians?
Do we at all remember the First Green Revolution in the
country where the judicious usage of pesticides helped us increase the production of food grains manifold. Earlier
we had to beg & import grains from US to feed much lower population but now
we export record quantity of Tea, Chilies, Fruits, Vegetables, Food grains to
USA & EU, are they not checking pesticide residues in our exports? If we
believe what was said on pesticide contaminated food on Satyamev Jayate, all
our export consignments should be rejected & sent back by the importing
countries. Why do we ignore technological progress and paint a panic picture to
go back to bullock cart farming.
The pesticide consumption in India is one of the lowest
in the world with 0.48 kg/ha whereas average world consumption is around 3 kg
to 5 kg/ha. In some of the countries like Japan the pesticide consumption is
10.7 kg/ha. According to the Standing Committee Report of Ministry of Chemicals
& Fertilizers, Govt. of India, annual crop losses in India due to pests and
diseases is worth Rs. 90,000 crores, which could be saved by judicious use of
Pesticides.
Today we are self sufficient in food production only
because of the use of pesticides, fertilizers and quality seeds. As far as
organic farming is concerned, please note there is no regulatory body as of
today to monitor its quality, hygiene etc and organic farming cannot feed the
fast growing world population due to its lower yield & quality of the produce.
