Citing harmful impact, request to ban herbicide sent to state

  • | Friday | 14th December, 2018

“The government of Punjab had banned the weedicide (glyphosate) in October as it causes cancer. We do not have the figures of the cancer affected farmers in the rest of the state. A staggering 25% of farmers in the Shirola village of Satara district are affected with cancer. Therefore, I have requested the state government to ban the chemical,” the activist said.Incidentally, the weedicide comes in handy for clearing the farms of weeds (haral) in minimum expenditure. A 15ml solution of glyphosate is to be mixed with 15 litre water and sprayed over the unwanted plants.

Aurangabad: The district collector office has issued a letter to the secretaries of home and civil administration department in the Mantralaya to consider banning glyphosate used for getting rid of unwanted vegetation by farmers in the state.The development comes after a city-based homeopathic doctor, Vilas Jagdale, pointed out WHO’s statement on the chemical’s harmful impact on human health.In a letter addressed to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and submitted to the district collector, divisional commissionerate and divisional agriculture directorate on December 12, Jagdale said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) had issued a publication in March 2015 which labelled glyphosate as a probable carcinogen to humans.Jagdale had attached the WHO publication with his letter. “The government of Punjab had banned the weedicide (glyphosate) in October as it causes cancer. A staggering 25% of farmers in the Shirola village of Satara district are affected with cancer. We do not have the figures of the cancer affected farmers in the rest of the state. Therefore, I have requested the state government to ban the chemical,” the activist said.Incidentally, the weedicide comes in handy for clearing the farms of weeds (haral) in minimum expenditure. Pramod Shinde, a farmer in Paithan, said that almost all farmers use the chemical.“We just need to ask for a weed removing solution at the agriculture shop. A 15ml solution of glyphosate is to be mixed with 15 litre water and sprayed over the unwanted plants. The weeds wither down saving us the expense of engaging labour or machinery for the purpose,” he added.Dilip Wadkute, technical officer (quality) at Aurangabad divisional agriculture office, said that banning the herbicide will have economic repercussions on farming.“We need to understand that the farmers have limited resources and capex before pulling off the chemical from the market. It must be used with instructions like covering the body,” Wadkute said.

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