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Thiruvananthapuram: As a first step towards making the farm sector free of chemical pesticides and putting the State on the path towards total organic farming, Kerala on Wednesday decided to ban the sale and use of all highly hazardous pesticides carrying red label, including the widely used Furadan. The ban would come into force in June and a notification regarding this would be issued in two days.
At the same time, State-owned Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK) decided to provide Rs 5 crore as the first installment of the compensation to be paid to the victims of killer pesticide Endosulfan in Kasaragod. The use of Endosulfan continuously for two decades in Kasaragod by the PCK had led to the death of about 1,000 people in that district.
The decision to ban red-labeled pesticides was taken by a high-level meeting of officials chaired by Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran. The meeting also decided to ban certain pesticides coming under the category of medium hazardous pesticides carrying yellow label and some others belonging to the green-labeled category known as less hazardous.
Five chemicals are presently being sold and used in Kerala under the red label category pesticides. Changes would be brought to the provisions in the Package of Practices of the Kerala Agricultural University, which prescribes the use and sale of pesticides in the State for the implementation of the ban on the pesticides.
With this, the sale and use of the highly hazardous pesticides could be stopped in the State, Minister Ratnakaran said. The list of alternatives for the pesticides being banned could be issued by next month, he hoped. “The Government will not allow the sales and use of hazardous pesticides. We cannot afford them,” he added.
The meeting also decided to end the practice of spraying pesticides aerially throughout the State. In the context, of the large-scale smuggling of Endosulfan, banned 10 years ago in the State, into Kerala, the Government would set up laboratories on inter-State borders to stop this practice. Legal cases would be registered against those who sold the banned pesticides, the Minister said.
In the meantime, a meeting with Minister Ratnakaran held with top officials of the Department of Agriculture and those of the Plantation Corporation (PCK), including its chairman TJ Anjelose, decided that the corporation would contribute Rs 5 crore as the first installment to a relief package for the Endosulfan victims in Kasaragod.
After the meeting, Anjelose said that the PCK was prepared to do anything that the Government suggested for alleviating the sufferings of the Endosulfan victims of Kasaragod. The corporation had sprayed Endosulfan aerially for over two decades in its cashew estates in Kasaragod which caused the death of about 1,000 people and mysterious diseases to nearly 10,000 people.
Anjelose said that a meeting of the director board on Friday would decide on the steps to be taken for assisting the pesticide victims. He said jobs would be reserved for the dependents and family members of Endosulfan victims. He also said that the PCK would seek Central help for the detoxification of the 1,942 litres of Endosulfan stored in its warehouses.
At the same time, State-owned Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK) decided to provide Rs 5 crore as the first installment of the compensation to be paid to the victims of killer pesticide Endosulfan in Kasaragod. The use of Endosulfan continuously for two decades in Kasaragod by the PCK had led to the death of about 1,000 people in that district.
The decision to ban red-labeled pesticides was taken by a high-level meeting of officials chaired by Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran. The meeting also decided to ban certain pesticides coming under the category of medium hazardous pesticides carrying yellow label and some others belonging to the green-labeled category known as less hazardous.
Five chemicals are presently being sold and used in Kerala under the red label category pesticides. Changes would be brought to the provisions in the Package of Practices of the Kerala Agricultural University, which prescribes the use and sale of pesticides in the State for the implementation of the ban on the pesticides.
With this, the sale and use of the highly hazardous pesticides could be stopped in the State, Minister Ratnakaran said. The list of alternatives for the pesticides being banned could be issued by next month, he hoped. “The Government will not allow the sales and use of hazardous pesticides. We cannot afford them,” he added.
The meeting also decided to end the practice of spraying pesticides aerially throughout the State. In the context, of the large-scale smuggling of Endosulfan, banned 10 years ago in the State, into Kerala, the Government would set up laboratories on inter-State borders to stop this practice. Legal cases would be registered against those who sold the banned pesticides, the Minister said.
In the meantime, a meeting with Minister Ratnakaran held with top officials of the Department of Agriculture and those of the Plantation Corporation (PCK), including its chairman TJ Anjelose, decided that the corporation would contribute Rs 5 crore as the first installment to a relief package for the Endosulfan victims in Kasaragod.
After the meeting, Anjelose said that the PCK was prepared to do anything that the Government suggested for alleviating the sufferings of the Endosulfan victims of Kasaragod. The corporation had sprayed Endosulfan aerially for over two decades in its cashew estates in Kasaragod which caused the death of about 1,000 people and mysterious diseases to nearly 10,000 people.
Anjelose said that a meeting of the director board on Friday would decide on the steps to be taken for assisting the pesticide victims. He said jobs would be reserved for the dependents and family members of Endosulfan victims. He also said that the PCK would seek Central help for the detoxification of the 1,942 litres of Endosulfan stored in its warehouses.
