44 pesticides banned for import, manufacture, sale: Minister Narendra Singh Tomar

New Delhi : Till now 44 pesticides have been banned for import, manufacture and sale, two pesticide formulations have been restricted to be manufactured for export only and eight pesticides have been withdrawn and are no longer in use in agriculture, said Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday.

The minister also said that 18 pesticides have been refused registration, nine have been restricted for use and six shall be phased out by December 31, 2020. He was replying to BJP leader Vijaypal Singh Tomar''s queries over use of dangerous chemicals and pesticides in farming.

Vijaypal Singh had questioned the minister whether government or any agency has conducted any survey on the death of farmers due to ignorance about using dangerous chemicals and pesticides in farming causing ill effect on human health.

He also expressed to know whether government has considered imposing restrictions or ban on such chemicals which can severely affect and harm the health of the farmers who use them, the farm products on which these are used and the health of the human beings who consume these farm products.

The minister said, "No survey has been conducted by Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare. Indian Council of Agricultural Research and state governments of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Kerala, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu have also reported that no such survey has been done."