Jisha Surya
First Published : 21 Oct 2010
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Either a nation-wide regulation or more power for State Government could only bring effective solution to the endosulfan threat, feel social activists studying on the effects on endosulfan in areas like Kasargod. The report of extensive use of the banned chemical in cardamom plantations in Idukki is a proof that ban won’t be effective unless there is a nation-wide regulation, they said.
Activists are also accusing agriculture officers for secretly encouraging farmers to use endosulfan.
Farmers in Idukki believe that unlike other pesticides, Endosulfan won’t harm honeybees and thus helps in pollination. Also that the effect of endosulfan will last during rain. These beliefs are supposed to tempt farmers to use the banned chemical.
Social activist and documentary filmmaker M A Rahman who brought to light the dangers of endosulfan use in Kasargod said that the Central Government was acting in the interests of manufactures of endosulfan and that was evident from its stand at the recently-concluded Stockholm Convention. “The Central Government, which is responsible to act, is not supporting the ban. Unless the State Government is given more powers, restrictions won’t be effective,” he said.
“It seems hundreds of lives in Kasargod are not enough for the government to assess the extreme effects of endosulfan. Twenty-two years of continuous aerial spraying on government-owned plantation has ruined many lives in the area. Still the Union Government is not supporting the ban only because India is the largest manufacturer of endosulfan,” Rahman said. Government-owned Hindustan Insecticides Limited is one of the major manufacturers of endosulfan. US firm Bayer CropScience, from where HIL took patent for manufacturing endosulfan, ceased production in 2007 following the ban in US.
Rahman also slammed the Union Government for brushing aside the report of National Institute of Occupational Health, which clearly studied on the ill-effects of endosulfan.
Environmentalist Dr A Achutan said farmers were inviting trouble by not following the procedures prescribed in the bottle. “Farmers must use masks, assess wind direction, cover water bodies and use specified intensity of chemical. But most of them fail to do this,” he said. In 2000, the Achutan committee and NIOH jointly suggested ban on endosulfan for five years to study its ill-effects. Ten years have passed and government has not yet heeded to this recommendation. “I heard the government has begun a study in the area now. But the result would be negative as there is no use of endosulfan for the past 10 years,” Achutan said. As majority of members demanded ban on endosulfan at the sixth meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants’ Review Committee (POPRC) at the Stockholm Convention, activists are hoping that India might be forced to ban its use by the next meeting.
Better alternatives
Principal Agriculture Officer of Farm Information Bureau G S Unnikrisnan said no pesticide could be termed harmless. “Every pesticide have toxicity of varying intensity. Since pest attacks are common on cardamom plants, the Government must promote alternative ways like organic farming. Organic extracts like ‘pyrethrum’ extracted from Chrysanthemum are being successfully used in cardamom plantations in Kumili,” he said.
First Published : 21 Oct 2010
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Either a nation-wide regulation or more power for State Government could only bring effective solution to the endosulfan threat, feel social activists studying on the effects on endosulfan in areas like Kasargod. The report of extensive use of the banned chemical in cardamom plantations in Idukki is a proof that ban won’t be effective unless there is a nation-wide regulation, they said.
Activists are also accusing agriculture officers for secretly encouraging farmers to use endosulfan.
Farmers in Idukki believe that unlike other pesticides, Endosulfan won’t harm honeybees and thus helps in pollination. Also that the effect of endosulfan will last during rain. These beliefs are supposed to tempt farmers to use the banned chemical.
Social activist and documentary filmmaker M A Rahman who brought to light the dangers of endosulfan use in Kasargod said that the Central Government was acting in the interests of manufactures of endosulfan and that was evident from its stand at the recently-concluded Stockholm Convention. “The Central Government, which is responsible to act, is not supporting the ban. Unless the State Government is given more powers, restrictions won’t be effective,” he said.
“It seems hundreds of lives in Kasargod are not enough for the government to assess the extreme effects of endosulfan. Twenty-two years of continuous aerial spraying on government-owned plantation has ruined many lives in the area. Still the Union Government is not supporting the ban only because India is the largest manufacturer of endosulfan,” Rahman said. Government-owned Hindustan Insecticides Limited is one of the major manufacturers of endosulfan. US firm Bayer CropScience, from where HIL took patent for manufacturing endosulfan, ceased production in 2007 following the ban in US.
Rahman also slammed the Union Government for brushing aside the report of National Institute of Occupational Health, which clearly studied on the ill-effects of endosulfan.
Environmentalist Dr A Achutan said farmers were inviting trouble by not following the procedures prescribed in the bottle. “Farmers must use masks, assess wind direction, cover water bodies and use specified intensity of chemical. But most of them fail to do this,” he said. In 2000, the Achutan committee and NIOH jointly suggested ban on endosulfan for five years to study its ill-effects. Ten years have passed and government has not yet heeded to this recommendation. “I heard the government has begun a study in the area now. But the result would be negative as there is no use of endosulfan for the past 10 years,” Achutan said. As majority of members demanded ban on endosulfan at the sixth meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants’ Review Committee (POPRC) at the Stockholm Convention, activists are hoping that India might be forced to ban its use by the next meeting.
Better alternatives
Principal Agriculture Officer of Farm Information Bureau G S Unnikrisnan said no pesticide could be termed harmless. “Every pesticide have toxicity of varying intensity. Since pest attacks are common on cardamom plants, the Government must promote alternative ways like organic farming. Organic extracts like ‘pyrethrum’ extracted from Chrysanthemum are being successfully used in cardamom plantations in Kumili,” he said.
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