The Vidarbha region of Maharashtra is any farmer's living nightmare. Droughts, crop loss and loan liabilities have devastated the lives of most farmers in the region. It is one of the regions with the highest rate of farmer suicides in the country. The latest problem of deaths due to pesticides have turned farmers' lives a hell here.
So far, 50 people have died of pesticide poisoning in the Vidarbha region; another 800 people are being treated for pulmonary and gastrological conditions, burns, and sight problems. Rash and unscientific use of pesticides for cotton crops have led to the latest tragedy.
The farmers have been resorting to the indiscreet practice of increasing the amount of pesticides sprayed on cotton plants whenever pest attacks were on the rise. They did not use hand-gloves or masks that cover nose and mouth while spraying the pesticides on neck-high cotton plants.
The farmers of Vidarbha were swayed by the wrong propaganda that a lion’s share of the spending for cotton cultivation is for pesticides and that genetically modified (GM) seeds were capable of keeping the pests away. They had bought GM seeds at double the price of non-GM cottonseeds, but pest attack was doubly severe for cotton grown from GM seeds. When the commonly used pesticides were found to be ineffective against pests, the farmers were forced to use costly and deadly pesticides as a last resort to save their crops.
The present calamity that has struck the cotton farmers is also a fallout of the operational apathy of the officials from the department of agriculture, who had to guide the farmers. They have apparently colluded with manufacturers and sellers of pesticides for monetary gains. What is worse, the department of health failed to report to the state government cases of pesticide-related diseases on time. This aggravated the magnitude of the catastrophe.
It has been reported that pesticides have led to large-scale destruction in over 500 villages of the Vidarbha and Marathwada regions of Maharashtra. Farmers continue to perish in these regions, despite the police having registered cases against the manufacturers and sellers of the killer pesticides as also against officials of the agriculture department.
—via onmanorama
