Pesticides Management Bill 2020 GS: 3 "EMPOWER IAS"

In news:

The Union Cabinet approved to table the Pesticide Management Bill, 2020 in Parliament. The bill aims at making safe and effective pesticides for farmers. The main aim of the bill is to replace the Insecticides Act, 1968.

Pesticides in India :

Around 234 pesticides are used in India. Out of these 4 belongs to WHO’ Ia class pesticides, 15 belong to WHO Ib class pesticide.
There are 76 pesticides that belong to WHO Class II pesticides.
Also, only 40% of the pesticides used in the country are registered.
India is the fourth-largest producer of pesticides in the world, with the market segmentation tilted mainly towards insecticides, with herbicides on the increase in the recent past. It is reported that eight states consume more than 70% of the pesticides used in India.
Amongst the crops, paddy accounts for the maximum share of consumption (26-28%), followed by cotton (18-20%), notwithstanding all the hype around Bt technology.
India is among the leading producers of pesticides in Asia. In the domestic market, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana are among the states with the highest recorded consumption.

WHO classification:

The WHO classifies pesticides based on the hazards created by them. They are as follows:

Key features of the Bill:

The Bill will regulate the business of pesticides and compensate farmers in case of losses from the use of agrochemicals.
Agrochemicals imply chemicals used in agriculture, such as a pesticide or fertilizer.

Currently, the pesticide business is regulated by rules under the Insecticides Act 1968.
Pesticide Data: It will empower farmers by providing them with all the information about the strength and weakness of pesticides, the risk and alternatives. All information will be available openly as data in digital format and in all languages.

Compensation: The Bill has a unique feature in the form of a provision for compensations in case there is any loss because of the spurious or low quality of pesticides.
If required, a central fund will be formed to take care of the compensations.
Organic Pesticides: The Bill also intends to promote organic pesticides.
Registration of Pesticide Manufacturers: All pesticide manufacturers have to be registered and bound by the new Act, once it is passed. The advertisements of pesticides will be regulated so there should be no confusion or no cheating by the manufacturers.

Use of Pesticides in India

India is among the leading producers of pesticides in Asia.
In the domestic market, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana are among the states with the highest recorded consumption.
Spurious Pesticides:
- They harm crop, soil fertility and the environment.
- Spurious agrochemicals are responsible for the losses of not just farmers but also producers of genuine agrochemicals and the government, which loses revenue from the sales of the counterfeit versions of the real farm inputs.

Insecticides Act, 1968

It was brought into force with effect from August 1971 with a view of regulating the import, manufacture, sale, transport, distribution and use of insecticides in order to prevent risk to human beings and animals.
Central Insecticides Board was established under Section 4 of the Act and it works under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
The board advises the central government and state governments on technical matters arising out of the administration of the act and to carry out the other functions assigned to it.

Draft of the pesticides Bill,2018

It aims to replace the existing Insecticides Act of 1968.
A key proposal in the version was to raise penalties on the sale of prohibited or spurious pesticides to ₹50 lakh and up to five years’ imprisonment, from the current ₹2,000 and up to three years’ imprisonment.
It was criticised on the grounds that existing draft provides inadequate representation to States .The States should have a say in final decision making on pesticide, as they have the best understanding on the agroecological climate, environment and soil conditions.

Way ahead

The draft bill has the opportunity to clean up the food and farming system of our country, but needs to make the registration process more stringent for manufacturers.
We need a complete overhaul of our registration process for pesticides, so that new registrations happen only when there is need and no safer alternatives exist.
The setting up of a compensation fund offers hope for farmers affected by poisoning, but they should not be compelled to take recourse to the Consumer Protection Act to claim compensation.

Source)

Related Posts