Centre orders probe into herbicide toxicity
Madhya Pradesh is the country’s largest soyabean grower, producing up to 5.5 million tonnes annually
The Centre on Sunday ordered a probe into alleged reports of toxicity resulting from the use of herbicide in soyabean fields, which could be linked to agricultural chemicals not conforming to standards.
A four-member team, comprising specialists, from the state-run Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) will carry out a field investigation and submit its report “on an urgent basis”, an order issued by the Union agriculture ministry-run ICAR said.
Speaking to the media in Madhya Pradesh, Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said large tracts of farms in several regions had reported toxicity. The state is the country’s largest soyabean grower, producing up to 5.5 million tonnes annually.
Herbicides or weedicides are chemicals that kill weeds and agri-chemicals, especially if spurious or when not used per package instructions, can lead to toxicity in plants and humans. It is widely used by soyabean farmers to save on labour costs.
Activists opposed to genetically-modified crops have alleged that illegal herbicide-tolerant soyabean GM soyabean has been found to be grown in many parts of the country’s soyabean belt. The Coalition for a GM-Free India, an advocacy platform, and the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (Indian farmers’ union), among several organisations, have in the past alleged that illegal soyabean crops had been detected in Gujarat. The BKS is affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, a mother organisation of the BJP.
“This (toxicity) is not limited to one farm. A high-level team of scientists has been set up to probe it and pesticide companies responsible for this will be held accountable,” the farm minister said in the state’s Chitkhara.
According to the Indian Society of Weed Science, some commonly used herbicides in soybean include pendimethalin, imazethapyr and chlorimuron ethyl. Spurious pesticides have been proved to have a wide market in many states.
The Modi government is planning to bring a stricter law to tackle the issue of fake fertilisers and spurious agricultural inputs, a problem that, according to a recent study, accounts for 40% of total sales by value, the HT had reported on June 3.
Substandard agricultural materials can cut over 10 million tonnes of potential agricultural output in the country, according to a 2015 study by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (FICCI). The value of illegal pesticides, for instance, has been expanding by nearly 20% a year, according to the study’s findings.
