The Indian government has formally restricted the use of glyphosate, a widely used herbicide, over concerns about harm to human and animal health. From now on, glyphosate will only be applied through Pest Control Operators (PCOs). Glyphosate has been banned in some Indian states.
PCOs are licensed to use lethal chemicals to treat rodent pests. The official communiqué on this restriction was published recently. A draft of the limit was circulated for comment more than two years ago. Although not explicitly mentioned in the official notice, many experts believe the move is intended to curb the indiscriminate use of glyphosate by farmers.
Glyphosate is mainly used in tea gardens to control weeds in India. The chemical is also used in non-crop areas to control unwanted growth. These areas include irrigation channels, rail spurs, fallow land, embankments, farm boundaries, parks, industrial and military installations, airports, power stations, and more.
A 2015 study published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer called glyphosate "probably carcinogenic to humans." The use of glyphosate has increased a lot since Ht BT cotton began to be grown illegally in India, sources said. Traces of glyphosate have been found in dried agricultural products in India, and some farmers even use glyphosate to dry agricultural products.
To enforce this order, companies that manufacture or sell the chemical must return all registration certificates to the Registration Board. If any company fails to return the certificate of registration within three months, appropriate action will be taken under the Pesticides Act 1968, the order said.
Kalyan Goswami, Director General, Agrichemicals Confederation of India (ACFI), said: "The biggest concern at the moment is that there is no operating system for pest control in the growing areas and this order will inevitably cause confusion locally. Secondly, the involvement of the PCO will be It adds a lot of extra cost, so it's not a farmer-centred measure at all."
Source: AgroPages
