THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The death of two farm workers following exposure to pesticide at Peringa in upper Kuttanad on Friday has landed the agriculture department officials in trouble.
A section of agriculture officers has alleged that there is no quality check on the pesticides though there are pesticide inspectors in all the 14 districts. They also claim that the recently announced Good Agricult-ural Practices (GAP) is an eyewash as chemicals can be used with the support of the pesticide lobby.
The two workers, Sanal Kumar, 42, Mathai Easo, 68, had allegedly used a high concentration of pesticide which led to their death. It is alleged that they never used hand gloves, head cover and mask.
They started their work from early morning before even the agriculture department officials reached their office. As per the GAP system, an agricultural officer should take stock of the situation when the farmers use pesticides.
“But no agriculture department official will be there at 8 a.m. There is a lobby among the department officials favouring organic farming and another supporting GAP. Those favouring organic farming are silenced in high-level meetings,” said an agriculture department official.
Agriculture Minister V. S. Sunil Kumar told Deccan Chronicle that he had issued a circular on January 3 stating that all retail shops which sell pesticides should display the name of the pesticides and for which crop it can be used, including the dose of spraying.
“This should be strictly maintained by the retail shop. The pesticide companies target the farm workers who are ignorant about the pesticide hazards,” he said.
The tragedy struck the village when a 10-day campaign was planned to check whether banned pesticides were being used.
