India urged to fight hunger with crop protection

The Agrochemicals Policy Group, an apex body of 200 crop protection companies, has said agricultural produce loss in 2007 due to pests was estimated at Rs 1.40 lakh crore and that prudent pesticide use could cut losses, besides enhancing productivity.

UN’s concern

Last week, the World Bank said food prices had doubled over the last three years and it could push 100 million people in the low-income countries further into poverty. The World Bank President, Mr Robert Zoellick, appealed to Governments to provide the UN World Food Programme $500 million as emergency assistance.

The United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki -Moon, too, said food crisis was looming large around the world and reached emergency proportions, while calling for short-term emergency measures in many regions and long-term efforts to increase production.

Mr S. Kumarasamy, Chairman, Agrochemical Policy Group, said crop loss in India was because only a fourth of the total cropped area of 180 million hectares was treated with crop protection chemicals.

5-fold return

He said there was an urgent need to step-up farm output and farmers could be assured of a five-fold return on the money spent on pesticides. The agrochemical industry was keen on joining hands with the agriculture department to promote safe and judicious use of pesticides.

The level of pesticide use in India was 480 gm per hectare, while it was 17,000 gm in Taiwan, 17,000 gm in Japan, and 4,500 gm in the US. In Europe, it was close to 3,000 gm a hectare. Correspondingly, crop yields in India were the lowest.

Overdose a bane

However, even at the present level of usage, pesticides helped enhance productivity of export-oriented crops such as tea, grapes and pomegranate, besides vegetables. Reacting to concerns over pesticide use in general, he said one should liken it to a doctor’s prescription, and over-dose was a bane.

Right practices

However, Dr K.S.R.K. Murthy, President, Plant Protection Association of India, Hyderabad, said pesticide use can be advocated only when right agricultural practices were followed. Taiwan, Japan and other countries followed such practices.

Need-based

Pesticide use was need-based and application should be only when the economic threshold level was exceeded. Strict adherence to recommended dosage, besides employing the right application method and equipment were a must, else it was better to refrain from using pesticides.