Lok Sabha Question No. 653 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-02-06
Subject: Use of Banned Weed Killer
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: PREM SINGH CHANDUMAJRA, KONDA VISHWESHWAR REDDY, BHOLA SINGH, KINJARAPU RAM MOHAN NAIDU, RAVNEET SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.653

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE  6 TH  FEBRUARY, 2018

## USE OF BANNED WEED KILLER

## 653.   PROF. PREM SINGH CHANDUMAJRA:

SHRI KONDA VISHWESHWAR REDDY:

SHRI BHOLA SINGH:

SHRI RAM MOHAN NAIDU KINJARAPU:

SHRI RAVNEET SINGH:

Will  the  Minister  of  AGRICULTURE  AND  FARMERS  WELFARE      ‡ãðŠãäÓã एवं  कसान कयाण ½ãâ¨ããè be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is  a fact  that  cases  of  new  insecticide/pesticide resistant pests have gone up in various States of the country including Punjab, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  incidence  of  sale  of  pesticides  with  banned  chemicals  and  herbicidetolerant cotton seeds have been reported from different parts of the country, if so, the details thereof and the response of the Government thereto;
- (c) the likely impact of such pesticides and seeds on crops and health of farmers;
- (d) whether World Health Organisation has revealed in their studies that use of weed killer glyphosate threat to cancer among human beings, if so, whether the Government is considering to phase out the stocking of market shelves of the weed killer, if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the steps taken by the Government to educate the farmers about judicious use of pesticides and insecticides in cultivation?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF  STATE IN THE  MINISTRY OF  AGRICULTURE AND  FARMERS  WELFARE

‡ãðŠãäÓã एवं कसान कयाण ½ãâ¨ããÊã¾ã ½ãñâ Àã·¾ã ½ãâ¨ããè ( SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

- (a): As an epidemic of whitefly was observed in north zone during 2015-16 season, the  most  commonly  used  and  label  claimed  insecticides  for  whitefly  were  studied  for their resistance status in whitefly adult's population   during   2015-16 and   2016-17 from    four  different  locations  of  North  cotton  growing  zone  of  India.  Out  of  the  four locations studied in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, the maximum resistance ratio was observed  with  the  application  of  Thiamethoxam  (58.96  folds)  and  comparatively  less with  Imidacloprid,  Acetamiprid  and  Dinotefuran.  Among  organophosphate,  Triazophos (23.42-43.15  folds)  was  recorded  with  maximum  resistance  ratio  at  all  the  studied

locations. Based on these studies the whitefly management strategies were revised and upgraded for the North cotton growing zone of India.

Contd…2/-

-2-

(b) & (c): No  specific  information  with  respect  to  sale  of  pesticides  with  banned chemicals  is  available  with  Central  Insecticides  Board  and  Registration  Committee (CIB&RC).      None  of  the  State  Government  has  reported  about  the  sale  of  banned Herbicide  Tolerant  Cotton  Seeds,  since  2008.  Only  States  of  Andhra  Pradesh, Telangana  and  Maharashtra  have  reported  traces  of  unapproved  Herbicide  Tolerant (HT) cotton in some of the farmers field during 2017-18.

(d): Glyphosate  is  widely  used  herbicide  in  agriculture.  International  Agency  for Research  on  Cancer  (IARC)  in  March,  2015  after  review,  classified  it  'probably carcinogenic'  (group 2A,  i.e.  the  evidence  in  experimental  animals  was  sufficient  and the  evidence  in  humans  was  limited).  Following  the  IARC  report,  the  World  Health Organization  (WHO)  formed  an  expert  taskforce  of  Joint  Meeting  on  Pesticides Residues  (JMPR)  to  examine  the  reasons  for  divergence  of  opinions  of  its  different groups  on  the  carcinogenicity  of  glyphosate  and  some  other  active  ingredients.  The meeting  concluded  that  glyphosate  is  unlikely  to  be  genotoxic  at  anticipated  dietary exposures. The meeting also concluded that glyphosate is not carcinogenic in rats but could not exclude the possibility that it is  carcinogenic  in  mice at  very  high  doses.  In view of the absence of carcinogenic potential in rodents at human relevant doses and the  absence  of  Geno-toxicity  by  the  oral  route  in  mammals  and  considering  the epidemiological  evidence  from  occupational  exposures,  the  meeting  concluded  that glyphosate is  unlikely  to  pose  a  carcinogenic  risk  to  humans  from exposures  through the diet.

(e) The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare is implementing 'Strengthening and Modernization of Pest  Management  Approach' (SMPMA) Scheme, wherein, inter alia, Farmers Field Schools (FFSs) are organized to sensitize farmers on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach and to use chemical pesticides as a last resort as per approved labels and leaflets. In addition, States have been  requested  in  the  Zonal  Conferences  to  exhort  their  extension  functionaries  to sensitize farmers on application of pesticides as per approved labels and leaflets.

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