The excessive use of agro-chemicals by farmers worried about declining productivity has resulted in a sharp increase in the presence of harmful pesticides in vegetables, fruits, spices and even rice sold across India.

And complicating matters further, the Rs250bn Indian agro-chemical industry is also facing the problem of spurious and counterfeit pesticides, which are playing havoc with the agriculture sector.

Last month, the agriculture ministry released a report — Status of pesticide residues in India — revealing there has been a two-fold increase in the number of samples of food items with pesticide levels above the permitted maximum residue level (MRL) in a span of seven years.

About 20,000 samples of vegetables, fruits, spices, curry leaves, red chilli powder, rice, wheat, pulses, milk, fish and other marine items, tea, meat, eggs and water were analysed at over two-dozen laboratories for the possible presence of organo-chlorine, organo-phosphorus, synthetic pyrethroids, carbamates and herbicides group of pesticide residues.

While more than 80pc of the samples did not have any residues of the pesticides, these were detected in about 18pc of the samples. And 2.6pc of the samples had residues above the permitted MRL as prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). In 2008-09, the ministry had found just 1.4pc of the samples had residues above the permitted MRL.

Residues of non-approved pesticides were also detected in 12.5pc of the samples. The worst affected were vegetables samples picked up from markets in the major cities. Of the 8,342 samples, 1,875 were detected with residues, while 229 samples had residues above the FSSAI MRL.

Vegetables from the farmgate samples (1,846) were also found laced with pesticides: As many as 328 had residues, while 69 were above the FSSAI MRL. Of the 1,299 samples of spices, 821 had pesticide residues and 107 were above the limits. Other items with significant pesticide residues and MRL above the norms included fruits, rice, wheat and even organic vegetables.

Reacting to the agriculture ministry’s report about the high levels of pesticides in fruits, vegetables and foodgrains, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notices to the FSSAI and the central and state governments, seeking action to minimise the residue levels in food items. The commission described it ‘as a serious issue of human rights violation’, especially since the Supreme Court had repeatedly pointed out that the right to food was a fundamental right to life guaranteed by the Constitution.

“It is to be emphasised that any food article, which is hazardous and injurious to public health, is a potential danger to the fundamental right to life,” noted the NHRC. “The enjoyment of life and attainment, including right to life and human dignity encompasses, within its ambit availability of articles of food, without insecticides or pesticides residues, veterinary drugs residues, antibiotic residues, solvent residues etc.”

WHILE India has a rapidly expanding agro-chemicals sector (which includes fertilisers and pesticides), it faces growing threat from spurious and counterfeit manufacturers who are also flooding the markets with dangerous products.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) recently released a study on ‘Sub-standard, spurious/counterfeit pesticides in India’. The report, prepared with the support of Tata Strategic Management Group, aimed to highlight the proliferation of illegal pesticides in the country.

These include unregistered products, those with low or incorrect active ingredients and products containing banned substances and counterfeit products. According to the study, the Indian crop protection industry is estimated to be worth more than Rs250bn (the domestic market accounts for about Rs130bn) and is expected to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 12pc over the next five years.

“However, the harm of non-genuine/illegal pesticides and their proliferation in recent years is becoming a key deterrent to make the most effective use of agrochemicals and improve our agriculture yields,” notes the FICCI study. It warns that counterfeit pesticides will reach alarming levels by 2019 and if immediate steps are not taken, the fake products may jeopardise India’s status as a leading foodgrains, fruits and vegetables exporter.

The leading trade body estimates that counterfeit, spurious, adulterated or sub-standard pesticides today account for about 30pc (by volume) and 25pc (by value) of the total pesticides sector and are recording growth at ‘a dangerous pace’. If the problem is not addressed, such dangerous products could account for 40pc (by value) of India’s pesticides business by 2019. Besides crop loss and damage to soil fertility, the use of such products leads to losses for farmers, the industry and the government. It also affects the health of millions of consumers both in India and abroad.

The damage caused by such spurious products on land can be irreversible. Fields are rendered useless for cultivation and the underground water table also gets contaminated. FICCI warns that if steps are not taken by the authorities to curb the proliferation of fake pesticides, India’s exports of foodgrains — adding up to nearly 30m tonnes and worth more than $25bn — will be at stake.

The country also exports 3m tonnes of fruits and vegetables worth nearly $1.5bn, which could also be hurt because of the growing presence of fake pesticides.

The growing presence of pesticides in Indian agricultural products is hurting growers across the country. Recently, apple farmers in Himachal Pradesh — the hill state is the country’s largest apple-producing region — complained that some NGOs and traders had spread rumours that the fruits contained carbamide residues, which had resulted in a sharp fall in prices — from Rs1,800 a carton to less than Rs1,100.

But growers in the hill state claim that carbamide is used to ripen mangoes and bananas and not apples.

Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, November 9th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play