AICRP on Pesticide Residues, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, 500030, India
Intensive farming enabled the country to march from an era of chronic deficiency and dependence on imported food to self sufficiency which resulted in the shift of ship to mouth situation to farm to ship. However this high input intensive farming resulted in the excessive and injudicious use of pesticides and other inputs. Further, non-uniform use of the pesticides, in different regions, cropping systems and for public health programmes were added to the problem of misuse. Development of pesticide resistance by pests and resurgence aggravated the situation to resort to pesticide treadmill. There has been increasing concern in recent years that certain pesticides may produce serious long-term effects such as cancer, birth defects and sterility. However there is little conclusive evidence on chronic effects of pesticides in human. For export oriented agriculture the cosmetic effects of even traces of pesticides have assumed considerable importance. Pesticide residues in soil, water, food, fruits, vegetables, milk, milk products, fish and meat lead to chronic exposure to small, repeated doses of a pesticide over a period of time. Therefore, what is needed in the present context is a sustainable agricultural production strategy.
The use of synthetic pesticides in Indian agriculture can not be dispensed with, in view of the targets of food requirements projected for2020 AD. The five decade efforts resulted in the development of less persistent chemicals and with advances in pesticide chemistry, the rate of application has fallen from about 1.5 kg/ha DDT to 10 g/ha deltamethrin. The eco-friendly agriculture with minimum dependence on synthetic pesticides has been demonstrated successfully in isolated cases in the country. The green revolution technology backed up by a large and well trained extension personnel took a long time to catch up. Like wise, the ecological agriculture will become popular gradually. The present status of pesticide usage and its implications on the environment have been discussed along with suggestions for safer and judicious use of pesticides.
