Laws to tighten pesticide use
New laws governing the
use of pesticides are to be introduced shortly. According to
Sumith Jayakody, Research Officer of the Peradeniya Registrar of
Pesticides the new regulations will be gazetted this year to
ensure the safe use of pesticides. He told a media briefing that
the new regulations will be applied to pest control services,
labelling information, training of pesticide applicators and
penalty structure. The fine for the misuse of pesticides is to
be increased from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 500,000. It is reported that
1,242 deaths resulted from pesticide poisoning in 2006 while
another 16,876 persons were admitted to hospital. There were
2,787 suicides by recourse to pesticides the same year.
Today, there is an urgent need to create public awareness on
the dangers of wrong use of pesticides. This is because the most
harm is caused due to ignorance. Even our farmers are incapable
of understanding the directions given in the use of pesticides
that are imported to the country. Thus they tend to err in their
application resulting in harm being caused. Jayakody pointed out
that the majority of pesticide users (70 percent) used more than
the stipulated dosage and a majority (82 percent) had symptoms
of extreme toxicity following spraying. This brings us to the
question of the toxicity of the food crop. Who is to say that
our vegetables or fruits are not contaminated by the overuse of
pesticides. Do some of the new diseases and ailments have a
direct correspondence to this factor ? It would be worthwhile to
ascertain the overall impact of pesticide contaminated food on
the health aspect.
Without doubt the spraying of pesticides to food crops has
its inherent dangers. Today, we are so preoccupied by deaths
caused by violence we tend to ignore the more insidious forms of
danger through chemical poisoning. It is no exaggeration to say
most of the food we eat are contaminated by toxic properties.
Even natural foods such as vegetables fall into this category
due to the indiscriminate spraying of pesticides and also the
use of toxic agro chemicals.
Therefore the authorities should also turn their attention to
the slow poisoning resulting from the use of highly toxic
pesticides on food crops. Today there are all types of
pesticides that have flooded the market and the prospective user
is least aware of its dangers. One wonders how safe are these
pesticides. Steps should also be taken to check the contents of
pesticides that are imported to the country under various
labels. This is because these could contain destructive
properties that could harm our food crops while also exposing
their users to danger.
Not just pesticides, the authorities should also be alert in
respect of all types of agro chemicals that are being imported
to the country. This is because there could be sinister moves by
interested parties to destroy our agricultural crops. Such plots
had been uncovered in other countries too. Time was when the
farmers relied on the simple dung or compost fertilizer for our
crops. This, while obtaining high yields also ensured zero
contamination. Today we have lush attractive looking vegetable,
oversized carrots and capsicum. These though alluring to the
sight are grown by the use of toxic agro chemicals which are
harmful to health.
Therefore a full study should be undertaken to ascertain
larger implications on the use of certain agro chemicals on our
food crops. This is because like medicinal drugs, the
manufacture of pesticides and agro chemicals are monopolized by
multi-national companies who may palm off any product to the
unsuspecting. Thus a closer scrutiny should be done on the
product thus imported before it is put into the market.
Measures should also be taken to restrict the free access of
pesticides to all and sundry to reduce its fatal consequences.
The number of suicides due to pesticide poisoning shows their
easy availability. Thus a tight control needs to be maintained
on their issue. Some form of restriction may be imposed on
traders to reduces the chances of pesticides getting into the
wrong hands. |