NEW DELHI: In response to a question, Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture and farmers’ Welfare, informed the Parliament that the Government of India has prohibited 17 pesticides for import, manufacture or sale in the country in the last seven years.
The government has taken a prohibition decision based on the recommendation of an expert committee.
Surprisingly, all 17 pesticides were prohibited in 2018. These 17 pesticides are Alachlor, Benomyl, Carbaryl, Diazinon, Dichlorovos, Fenarimol, Fenthion, Linuron, Methoxy Ethyl Mercury Chloride (MEMC), Methyl Parathion, Phorate, Phosphamidon, Sodium Cyanide, Thiometon, Triazophos, Tridemorph, and Trichlorfon.
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW) has so far banned or phased out 46 pesticides and 4 pesticide formulations for import, manufacture or use in the country. In addition, eight pesticide registrations have been withdrawn and nine pesticides have been placed under restricted use.
The manufacture, import, storage, sale, distribution, use, etc of pesticides are regulated by the Insecticides Act, 1968, and the Insecticides Rules, 1971 made there under.
The Government of India, from time to time, keeps reviewing the continued use or otherwise of those pesticides which are banned or severely restricted in other countries of the world due to their toxic concerns or have been reported to pose harm to human health or the environment in our country or other countries of the world. These reviews are undertaken by constituting special committees or through the Registration Committee (RC).
In order to mitigate its toxicity, MoFAW is propagating the Integrated Pest Management approach through its 36 Central Integrated Pest Management Centers located in 28 States and 2 UTs by imparting training to farmers through Farmer Field Schools and HRD programs to encourage farmers for judicious use of pesticides.
Promotion of soil test-based Integrated Nutrient Management is expected to reduce the consumption of chemical fertilizers and increase the use of organic sources of plant nutrients, which in turn improve soil fertility as well as nutrient use efficiency.