This is the sad story of the hapless farmers
of Andhra Pradesh, retold by a Sanjoy Sengupta, a health
and pesticides activist. In his 28 page moving first hand
report, the author recounts the circumstances which
forced 236 marginal farmers to take the extreme steps of
committing suicide in December 1997 due to the crop
failure. This is one of the greatest tragedies that
struck the cotton farmers of Andhra Pradesh.
‘Spodoptera litura’, a pest which had
devastated Coastal Guntur and Prakasham districts a
decade ago, came back with a vengeance to the cotton
cultivations in the Telengana and Rayalaseema regions,
creating havoc in over 3.8 lakh hectares. Several reasons
have been cited by the author to the unfortunate
development which included unscientific and overuse of
pesticides by the farmers, which led to the development
of multiple resistance in pests as well us wiping out of
predators and parasites, paying the way for the growth of
the pests. Some of the banned pesticides were also found
in use. Farmers lacked proper awareness about the
judicious use of pesticides, by way of quantity, methods
and right pesticides. Unseasonal and intermittent rains
followed by drought helped worsen the situation.
There was no rotation of crop because the small and
marginal farmers had only 2-3 acres of land of their own
and many of them had taken land on lease for Rs 2500 to
3000 per acre. These were the ones who were in debt and
could not bear the crop loss and therefore committed
suicide. The pesticides dealers were giving pesticides on
credit on high interest rates and the poor farmers were
left with no way to repay. The cooperative banking system
had failed. Other banks were not of much help to the poor
farmers as some of lonees could not clear earlier loans.
The Government system, the Agricultural Scientists etc.
failed to be of much help to the farmers in this hour of
crisis.
AP case is just the tip of an ice burg. The situation of
farmers elsewhere in the country, like Punjab,
Maharashtra, Karnataka etc. are no better. The issues at
stake are much deeper. The question is the public health
risks involved in the use of pesticide. The author has
come out with radical suggestions to regulate the use of
pesticides in the country, which need a harder look by
the Government, agricultural and health scientists with
relation to the prevailing ground realities. The
recommendations point to creating greater awareness, use
of IPM technologies, crop insurance schemes, review of
cotton policies, alternatives to chemical pesticides, ban
of certain hazardous pesticides, orientation towards
organic farming and the like. The author also emphasis on
the need to review and modify the Insecticides Act to
incorporate strict enforcement of its provisions and to
help evolve a Rational Pesticides Policy as part of a New
Agricultural Policy.
This extremely useful reference document is available
from:
Public Policy Division
Voluntary Health Association of India
40 Institutional Area, New Delhi 110 016
TWO AMERICANS
EXPORT CHEMICAL STERILIZATIONS
Alix
M. Freedman with Jonathan Karp
Mr Stephen D. Mumford and his partner, a like-
minded contraceptive researcher, Dr. Elton Kessel
have 300,000 tiny yellow pellets in rows of white
plastic jars. These pellets, made of a compound
known as Quinacrine, are bound for India,
Pakistan, Bangladesh and more than a dozen other
countries. There, in remote clinics and
doctor’s offices, they will be used to
sterilize some of the world’s poorest women.
In the past decade, Quinacrine pellets supplied
by Mr. Mumford have been responsible for the
irreversible chemical sterilization of more than
100,000 Third World women. There are enough
pellets now in his stock at the moment to
sterilize 20,000 women. Inserted directly into
the uterus, Quinacrine prevents pregnancy by
scarring the fallopian tubes.
Because questions of safety and effectiveness
have not been resolved, Quinacrine sterilisations
are not permitted in the US. They are also
opposed by nearly all major family planning
organisations and many governments around the
world. In 1993, the WHO declared that, pending
further lab research, Quinacrine should not be
used to sterilize women in any country because of
the potential cancer risk. Source: The Wall Street Journal (quoted
in Indian Express) 19 June 1998. Internet
address: http://wsj.com
Printed
and Published by: ALOK MUKHOPADHYAY for the Health for the Millions Trust Published at : 40, Institutional Area Tong Swasthya Bhawan
New Delhi 110 016
Printed
by : PRINT-O-GRAPH
372/5 Govindpuri, Kalkaji,
New Delhi-110019 l Ph.: 6421679
Pager : 96280-33102
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