Pesticides used 15 times more than the limits!
Apart from the pervasive adulteration of food, excessive use of pesticides, often of below par quality, in the cultivation phase poses serious threats to human health. A new study finds that almost one-third of the pesticides used in farming vegetables and fruits in the country are substandard.
This is forcing farmers to apply excessive doses of pesticides that, experts say, not only raises the production cost but also causes grave health hazards to consumers in the long run.Worse still, the overdosing of these subpar chemicals is strengthening resistance in the insects, which means standard doses cannot kill them in many cases.The monitoring authorities admit the fact and claim they were doing their part to maintain pesticide standards. Food safety activists, however, say monitoring at the field level is weak and must be intensified to ensure both quality and proper doses of pesticides.
THE RESEARCH
For the study, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) collected 32 pesticide samples of different brands. After testing them, it found 30 percent of the pesticides contained active or key ingredients of half the prescribed quantity.
“The findings indicate a lot about the overall standard of pesticides,” said Dr Monirul Islam, director (nutrition) of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), who coordinated the study released last July.
The research, commissioned and published by the BARC, also says that due to the diminished impact of the pesticides, farmers now have to use pesticides 10-15 times the prescribed amount for producing fruits and 8-10 times for growing vegetables.
The truth of this was found in what Tariqul Islam, a farmer from Kodalia of Jessore Sadar, said: "About 10 years ago, we used to apply pesticides once a month or sometimes twice. But now many of us have to apply it every week, and even twice or thrice a week in some cases."
“I know of some incidents in which agriculture officials prescribed a particular pesticide but it did not work. Then farmers mixed two or three different pesticides and sprayed the mixture on vegetables,” he told The Daily Star over the phone.
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BARI Director General Dr Rafiqul Islam Mondal said while adulteration could be a reason behind the excessive use of pesticides, many farmers did not know the right doses either.
Farmers' awareness of a proper application of pesticides is crucial in checking extensive use of these toxic chemicals, he added.[/size]
