Harmful Effects of Chemical Pesticides

Abstract

After the rise of Green Revolution in Indian agriculture, pesticides have played an im-portant role in increasing crop production and protecting crops from pests, diseases and weeds. India is the third largest consumer (BWD) of pesticides in the world and the largest consumer among countries in South Asia. India is the second largest producer of common insecticides (thempb chmejpbpakme) in Asia after China and ranks 12th in the world. India is the 13th largest exporter of pesticides in the world after Brazil, US. A. Exports pesticides to countries like France and Netherlands. Over the decades, the con-sumption of pesticides in India has increased manifold from 154 MT in 1953-54 to 85000 MT in 2009-2010. Pesticide consumption per hectare in India is among the low-est in the world, at 0.6 kg per hectare recently. Other countries of the world like- U.K. Of. (5.7 kg. per hectare), France (5-6 kg. per hectare), Korea (7 kg. per hectare), U.S.A. (7 kg. per hectare), Japan (12 kg. per hectare), China (13 kg. per hectare) and Taiwan (17 kg. per hectare) are consumed. The highest consumption of pesticides in our country is An-dhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab, in which 45 percent of the total consumption is used. Most of the pesticides are used in crops like cotton, paddy, fruits and vegeta-bles. According to the Insecticides Act 1968, there are about 155 insecticides registered in India, including 57 insecticides, 44 fungicides, 33 weedicides, 7 rodenticides, 4 plant growth regulators, 4 fumigants, 3 octapadicides, 1 molluscicide, 1 nematode, 1 soil ster-ilizer. Of the total pesticides in our country, 60 percent insecticides, 18 percent fungi-cides, 16 percent weedicides, 3 percent biocides and 3 percent other chemicals are used in agriculture.