Pesticide use affecting human health, soil
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Yasir Wardad
The increasing use of chemical pesticides (CP) is causing serious hazards to human health while it is also creating organic matter deficiency in soil. However, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) can increase yield 10 per cent by reducing 80 per use of CP, experts said. Purno Chandra Roy, owner of 4 dons (one don = 30 decimal) of land at Chowdhurirhat village of Ramnagar Union in Nilphamari district told the FE that neither he nor his fellow farmers had any knowledge of chemical pesticides before the 1980s. He said: "The agriculture officials insisted on our using chemical pesticides saying it would increase the production by killing all kinds of pests. Till date, I and my fellow farmers use and measure pesticides according to the retailers' advice as we can't read the labels attached to the packets." "Purchasing pesticides cost me Tk 1,280 this year for four dons of land where I cultivated rice, while the cost was between Tk 700 to 750 five years back," he said. Purno Roy said both the price and the dosage are increasing year by year. According to the Plant Protection Wing at Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), the use of pesticides in the country has dramatically increased twentyfold over the last thirty years - from 2,200 tonnes in 1980-1981 to 48,595 tonnes in 2009-2010. On the other hand the pesticide use in 2004-2005 was recorded to be at 27, 648 tonnes that means the use has increased by nearly 76 per cent in the last five years although the acreage has not increased to the extent during the time. A high official of the Plant Protection Wing of DAE requesting anonymity told the FE: "Pesticide use had recorded a dramatic rise between the 1980s and the 1990s due to the expansion of monoculture of high-yielding rice varieties. The use of pesticides including insecticide, fungicide, herbicide, miticide and rodenticide would surpass 50,000 tonnes this fiscal year, the official said. He informed that in 2009-10 FY the farmers used 29,376 tonnes of insecticide, 14,791 tonnes of fungicide, 4,256 tonnes of herbicide, 84 tonnes of miticide and 88 tonnes of rodenticide for rice and vegetable fields. Soil experts said indiscriminate use of pesticides is causing soil matter deficiency while the health specialists marked it as a culprit for diseases like lung damage, kidney dysfunction, liver problems, skin disorders, asthma etc. Director of Bangladesh Institute of Health Sciences (BIHS) Dr Liaquat Ali told the FE that toxin in chemical pesticides is causing major cardio-vascular diseases, diabetis, cancer etc. He said it has the most dangerous effect if a gene mutation takes place in a reproductive gene (embryo) then the disease affects hereditarily. A recent study put forth by Nanjing Agricultural University and National Natural Science Foundation of China shows pesticides and toxins can be absorbed directly into crops through soil. The test involving acenaphthene, a specific type of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), used to make artificial dyes, plastics, pharmaceutical drugs, and pesticides, revealed that the chemical binds fairly easily to soil solids. According to the report, prenatal exposure to PAHs results in low birth weight, premature delivery, heart malformations, low IQ and childhood asthma. Long-term exposure as an adult can cause lung damage, kidney dysfunction, liver problems and skin disorders, the report said. According to the Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI) officials, soil of many areas of the country now contains less than 1.5 per cent organic matter while the standard requirement is 3 per cent. The officials said the random use of chemical fertilisers due to monoculture of high-yielding variety has affected soil fertility. The indiscriminate use of pesticides also harms farmland fertility, a high official of SRDI said. Principal Scientific Officer of SRDI Md Nazmul Hasan said: "We have no testing facilities available for knowing the 'Residual Effect' of chemical pesticides in the soil. If we had that facility we could find out how far chemical pesticides had affected our soil's organic matter efficiency." Senior Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Specialist Dr Lutful Haider told the FE: "IPM is a method which includes both the indigenous and modern techniques." He said: "This programme firstly emphasises following of indigenous methods and use of bio and botanic pesticides but finally suggests use of chemical pesticides specifically in the affected plants". He said if IPM had been implemented across the country, it could have reduced 80 per cent use of CP while the production could be increased by 10 per cent. Project director of the IPM phase-2 Md Mubarak Ali told the FE that the programme could be successfully implemented if there were IPM experts at DAE offices in every upazila. We have been able to train only 5 per cent of 765 million farmers across the country through our IPM project. Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) Dr Wais Kabir said, "The Pesticide Rule 2010 has recognised the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programmes." The agriculture departments should work for growing awareness among the farmers over indiscriminate use of chemical pesticide.
The increasing use of chemical pesticides (CP) is causing serious hazards to human health while it is also creating organic matter deficiency in soil. However, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) can increase yield 10 per cent by reducing 80 per use of CP, experts said. Purno Chandra Roy, owner of 4 dons (one don = 30 decimal) of land at Chowdhurirhat village of Ramnagar Union in Nilphamari district told the FE that neither he nor his fellow farmers had any knowledge of chemical pesticides before the 1980s. He said: "The agriculture officials insisted on our using chemical pesticides saying it would increase the production by killing all kinds of pests. Till date, I and my fellow farmers use and measure pesticides according to the retailers' advice as we can't read the labels attached to the packets." "Purchasing pesticides cost me Tk 1,280 this year for four dons of land where I cultivated rice, while the cost was between Tk 700 to 750 five years back," he said. Purno Roy said both the price and the dosage are increasing year by year. According to the Plant Protection Wing at Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), the use of pesticides in the country has dramatically increased twentyfold over the last thirty years - from 2,200 tonnes in 1980-1981 to 48,595 tonnes in 2009-2010. On the other hand the pesticide use in 2004-2005 was recorded to be at 27, 648 tonnes that means the use has increased by nearly 76 per cent in the last five years although the acreage has not increased to the extent during the time. A high official of the Plant Protection Wing of DAE requesting anonymity told the FE: "Pesticide use had recorded a dramatic rise between the 1980s and the 1990s due to the expansion of monoculture of high-yielding rice varieties. The use of pesticides including insecticide, fungicide, herbicide, miticide and rodenticide would surpass 50,000 tonnes this fiscal year, the official said. He informed that in 2009-10 FY the farmers used 29,376 tonnes of insecticide, 14,791 tonnes of fungicide, 4,256 tonnes of herbicide, 84 tonnes of miticide and 88 tonnes of rodenticide for rice and vegetable fields. Soil experts said indiscriminate use of pesticides is causing soil matter deficiency while the health specialists marked it as a culprit for diseases like lung damage, kidney dysfunction, liver problems, skin disorders, asthma etc. Director of Bangladesh Institute of Health Sciences (BIHS) Dr Liaquat Ali told the FE that toxin in chemical pesticides is causing major cardio-vascular diseases, diabetis, cancer etc. He said it has the most dangerous effect if a gene mutation takes place in a reproductive gene (embryo) then the disease affects hereditarily. A recent study put forth by Nanjing Agricultural University and National Natural Science Foundation of China shows pesticides and toxins can be absorbed directly into crops through soil. The test involving acenaphthene, a specific type of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), used to make artificial dyes, plastics, pharmaceutical drugs, and pesticides, revealed that the chemical binds fairly easily to soil solids. According to the report, prenatal exposure to PAHs results in low birth weight, premature delivery, heart malformations, low IQ and childhood asthma. Long-term exposure as an adult can cause lung damage, kidney dysfunction, liver problems and skin disorders, the report said. According to the Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI) officials, soil of many areas of the country now contains less than 1.5 per cent organic matter while the standard requirement is 3 per cent. The officials said the random use of chemical fertilisers due to monoculture of high-yielding variety has affected soil fertility. The indiscriminate use of pesticides also harms farmland fertility, a high official of SRDI said. Principal Scientific Officer of SRDI Md Nazmul Hasan said: "We have no testing facilities available for knowing the 'Residual Effect' of chemical pesticides in the soil. If we had that facility we could find out how far chemical pesticides had affected our soil's organic matter efficiency." Senior Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Specialist Dr Lutful Haider told the FE: "IPM is a method which includes both the indigenous and modern techniques." He said: "This programme firstly emphasises following of indigenous methods and use of bio and botanic pesticides but finally suggests use of chemical pesticides specifically in the affected plants". He said if IPM had been implemented across the country, it could have reduced 80 per cent use of CP while the production could be increased by 10 per cent. Project director of the IPM phase-2 Md Mubarak Ali told the FE that the programme could be successfully implemented if there were IPM experts at DAE offices in every upazila. We have been able to train only 5 per cent of 765 million farmers across the country through our IPM project. Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) Dr Wais Kabir said, "The Pesticide Rule 2010 has recognised the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programmes." The agriculture departments should work for growing awareness among the farmers over indiscriminate use of chemical pesticide.