Dynamics of Demand and Consumption of Pesticides in Agriculture-An Overview

Modern agriculture practices have been great promise for economic development of nation. Farm productivity isdirectly proportional to use of agrochemicals as observed from the first green revolution. In recent years, chemical pesticides have become the most important consciously-applied form of pest management. A pesticide is any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest. The main use of pesticides in India is in agriculture and public health sector to combat the various pests and diseases that affect man. The amount of pesticides used in India is very low (only 0.5 kg/ha) as compared to other developed countries even then we have much higher pesticide residues in food of our country. The overall demand of pesticides in country has increased during the last decade. The highest rate of increase in pesticide demand was observed in Andhra Pradesh followed by Maharashtra, whereas, Karnataka shows the significant decrease in pesticide demanded during the 2005–06 to 2012–13.