The vigour of the NGOs' campaign against endosulfan concides with the decline in European interest in the pesticide. Farmers in India at large have found endosulfan to be a pesticide that does not harm any of the pollinator forms of life. The Kerala government has not been able to link causally the incidence of diseases to the use of endosulfan but is politically committed to banning the pesticide. Hence the Proxy battle over endosulfan… http://whybanendosulfan.org
Endosulfan has negligible residues in drinking water who report
Proxy battle over endosulfan sharad joshi
1. Business Line : Columns / Sharad Joshi : Proxy battle over endosulfan Page 1 of 2
Proxy battle over endosulfan
Sharad Joshi
THE HINDU Farmers at large have found endosulfan does not harm pollinators.
February 9, 2011:
Strange is the interplay of money power, business interests and NGO politics. In most cases, farmers turn out to be
victims. A recent notification of the Kerala government is a good instance. The State Government recently issued
guidelines which render sale of pesticides illegal , unless supported by a prescription from an appropriate agricultural
officer.
Behind this apparently innocuous notification lies a complex interplay of various interests. The ostensible object of the
notification is to ensure a proactive remedy against health hazards caused by certain pesticides. The real purpose is to
effectively proscribe a particular pesticide, viz. endosulfan blamed for certain incidents of congenital abnormalities,
cancer and other diseases.
DEBATE OVER ENDOSULFAN
Endosulfan has been the subject of intense debate and controversy. Sixty nations have banned it — 27 belong to the
European Union; the 21 African countries that have banned it have substantial trade with Europe known for its
reservations against GM foods and pesticides in agricultural produce.
India accounts for about 70 per cent of the world production of this pesticide — about 12 million litres annually, valued
at Rs 4,500 crore. The controversy is very similar to that concerning GM foods. European Union countries do not
favour GM food items as they harm European pesticide interests. They also oppose pesticides that have ceased to
interest them.
On the other hand, endosulfan is used on a very large scale by Indian farmers, particularly in horticulture and pulses. It
is considered to be soft on pollinators such as honeybees and other beneficial insects such as ladybird beetles, though
effective as a pest killer, acting through the digestive system. It is used for aerial sprays in the cashew plantations in
Kasargode district of Kerala.
In the incidents reported from certain villages in Kasargode district , no conclusive evidence has been produced to
show that the diseases were linked causally to endosulfan and nothing else. An independent study demonstrates that
the symptoms in reported cases correspond to those of handi godu, attributed to chronic inbreeding in the region.
Kasargode district represents a peculiar topography that is not ideal for aerial sprays. Endosulfan by itself applied
locally might have produced no adverse effects of the alleged type.
The timing of the Kerala notification is ominous. A group of 172 nations is scheduled to meet in April 2011, under the
auspices of the Stockholm Convention, to take a final decision on declaring endosulfan as a persistent organic pollutant
(POP). India is opposed to such listing. This is for two reasons: First, it does not think that a proper case has been made
against the pesticide; and second, Indian farmers have used endosulfan on a massive scale without any noticeable ill-
effects.
IMPACT OF KERALA BAN
The notification making it obligatory for the farmer to produce a prescription from an agricultural officer as a
precondition for purchase is an attempt by the Kerala government to torpedo the official position of the Government of
India on the subject on the eve of the April meeting.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/columns/sharad-joshi/article1168315.ece?homepage=tru... 2/9/2011