July 22, 2020
Agriculture is the sector that provides food the basic need of the humans. Tempering with the nature and exploitation of it leads to disaster. To increase the production of the crops, the use of pesticides and fertilisers are used in abundance. Increased usage has resulted in a number of health issues for the Indian population and Punjab has paid a heavy price for food security.
‘Granary of India’ clicks only one name and that is Punjab, produces 20 per cent and nine per cent of India’s wheat and rice respectively. At the global platform, this represents three per cent of the global production of these crops. The state is responsible for two per cent of the world’s cotton and wheat production and one per cent of the world’s rice production.
Green Revolution has made this possible, a period when Indian agriculture was changed into a commercial one. A period when modern technologies and mechanization including high-breed seeds, reapers, sowers, bailers tractors, different types of irrigation facilities, pesticides and fertilisers were applied to the traditional farming. This adoption of latest technique made agriculture easier and faster giving maximum output bringing larger areas under cultivation, hence called “Green revolution”.
Initiated by Norman Borlaug in 1970, The Green Revolution led to him winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in developing Hi-Breed of wheat transforming India from a position of “a begging bowl to the basket of breads”.
Punjab enjoys the most successful state of India regarding The Green Revolution. At that time in the 1970s, a large dosage of pesticides revolutionised farming ways in India, with the results so impressive that it was considered good at the time.
The scene however did not last long. It was lesser beneficial and picture is no longer rosy. The consequences of the Green Revolution have come under constant global scrutiny.
With constant use and application, worms, insects and pests grew immune to pesticides. In desperation farmers started pumping these hazardous chemicals more into the soil as well as on crops. Their excessive use not only contaminated the air, soil and the water table, but also exposed plants and humans to the threat of harmful pesticides, insecticides, fungicides and what not.
Still the Green Revolution provided a few solutions to the problem of food security with time and again coming up with certain programmes. But Punjab deteriorated. It began to face a completely new range of problems: Infertile and decaying of soil, pest-infested and other crop-related diseases and farmers immersed in debts.
Punjab, known as the basket of food grains, happens to be the first state that suffers from the adverse consequences of the Green Revolution.
The consumers on whole, were unaware of the toxicity and harmful and dangerous effects of pesticides, long after the publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson in the 1960s.
However, pesticides, insectides and fungicides are still considered the most effective and possible weapon to deal with pests that keep threatening crops. As a result, the domestic pesticide market has grown to an estimated Rs. 20,000 crore. In the year 2019, India produced 217,000 tons of pesticides.
The Green Revolution brought into a large usage of pesticides and synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, giving rise to improved irrigation projects and crop varieties throughout the year.
The main objective of the Green revolution was to gain food security through scientific methods but there were little or no efforts made to train or educate the farmers about the high risk involved in the application of these perilous chemicals associated with serious health issues.
Punjab has paid a very heavy price to bring Green revolution in the state. People suffered death-defying illnesses like gastroenteritis, adenocarcinoma (stomach cancer), gastrointestinal stromal tumor, renal failure, stillborn babies and birth imperfections.
Punjab has strictly banned chemicals like Phosphamidon, Methomyl, Phorate, Triazophos and Monocrotophos. They are, however, still in use in other parts of India, along with several other Class I pesticides.
Chemicals banned in several countries: Phosphamidon is banned in 49 countries, Phorate in 37, Triazophos in 40 and Monocrotophos in 60 countries.
Pesticides are sprayed on crops usually by untrained labourers having no proper prescriptions and mixing ratio proportion of the chemicals involved, not following instructions and imperfect precautions where he has no knowledge about the ill-effect it will have on his health.
The spraying of chemicals do more harm than good to crops and humans. Spraying causes pollution of environment, water and soil with productivity and ecosystem at stake.
There are many alternatives available for getting out of the food production crisis in Punjab. Growing organic crops is one alternative, but time consuming and as its limitation. Also those crops to be grown which and climate and soil friendly. If chemicals are to be used then, such chemicals should be researched upon that has no impact on human life.
Sadly, the Government of India appears to ponder over the solution delaying the procedure, thus delaying the production of food grains while the farmers wait upon.
The package is made attractive to the famers and are encouraged to replace old technologies of the first with the revolution using new bio-technologies, and second substitute wheat and rice grown for domestic consumption with fruit and vegetables for the export market.
But even if Punjab opts for fruits and vegetables, someone has to grow wheat and rice!!! Again the same vicious circle of chemicals will start there. The government has to get to the core solution and not just changing alternatives. When the climate for wheat and rice suits Punjab then Punjab should go for it rather than settle for other replacements. Policies should change and not the geography!!!!