Banning Endosulfan: Should India Dare to Move?

Chemicals and pesticides are generally hazardous for human beings and environment; however, there are certain standard processes and practices are followed for their safe usage. The recent move against blanket ban on endosulfan across the country hardly justifies the reason that some 63 countries across the world have already banned this pesticide and India should follow them blindly without considering its own reasons.

The report on birth defects and other environmental degradations in the Kesargod area in Kerala by certain NGOs is motivated by MNCs in European countries since endosulfan as an off-patent generic pesticide which has impeccable integrated pest control capability (almost protects a variety of 29 crops from 60 types of infestations) and furthermore India leads the production of this pesticide. There are serious conspiracies behind this blanket ban across India, which is evident from the launch of new alternatives to endosulfan by EU companies.

Consider this simple arithmetic, India produces over 70 percent of endosulfan consumed by the world farmers and horticulturers amounting to 12.5 million litres and consumes 50 percent of its own production and, if endosulfan is banned, then any alternative as suggested by EU would cost around 8 to 50 times of the price at which endosulfan is sold. The enosulfan is a cheap pesticide available at a price range of Rs. 250-285 per litre in India. Since India's farm economy is quite strong, the usage of pesticide like endosulfan is endemic across the country.

In fact, Kerala and Karnataka are not the only states in India those are using endosulfan, the most prolific users are Punjab, Haryana, UP, West Bengal, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh where there is not a single report on birth defect in these states. Forget about the reports published in media, let me tell you a fact that in Punjab there is no such report of health hazards due to endosulfan in last 50 years, and for all factual evidences Punjab is far ahead in farm products in comparison to Kerala or Karnataka.

Moreover, looking at the EU strategies to ban endosulfan and bring out some new alternatives at extremely higher price range is a clear indication of the fact that the drive against endosulfan is a conspiracy of MNCs those want to launch the product in the market soon. So a propaganda against endosulfan through certain vested interest groups is understandable. If India bows down to the Stockholm Convention, then it could be a suicidal move against the poor farmers of this country.

Kesargod incident is an one-off case which hasn't even strong evidences against endosulfan abuse and chances are that the reports published in media or driven by NGOs are motivated by interest groups. Moreover, the way endosulfan is used in cashew forests in Kerala is against the standard operating process. Aerial spray of any pesticide over a decade could have adverse impact on the people around the locality, and this specific case maybe no different. Rather than banning the pesticide, Kerala should learn the right way of using the pesticide. It seems like bad workmen always quarrel with their tools, and this surely fits in here.

The Government of India should take notice of the strong implications due to ban of endosulfan. The immediate impact could be on the farm productivity and pricing. Already the poor people of India are reeling under extreme inflation in all these years and a step towards blanket ban of a pesticide which has no proven adverse impact on the people and environment could be a dangerous proposition for agricultural productivity and economy of this country.