{"id":35279,"date":"2025-01-11T19:03:18","date_gmt":"2025-01-11T13:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=35279"},"modified":"2025-01-11T19:03:19","modified_gmt":"2025-01-11T13:33:19","slug":"pesticide-poisoning-and-regulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/11-01-2025\/pesticide-poisoning-and-regulations","title":{"rendered":"Pesticide Poisoning and Regulations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/ Health, GS3\/ Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A new study has revealed that over 70 per cent of wild bee species, crucial for pollinating food crops, face alarming risks from <strong>pesticide residues in soil.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is Pesticide?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Pesticides are substances or mixtures of substances that are used to <strong>prevent, destroy, repel, or mitigate pests.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pests can include<\/strong> insects, rodents, fungi, weeds, and other organisms that can <strong>negatively impact agriculture.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pesticides are commonly used in <strong>agriculture to protect crops from pests and increase yields.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The main categories of pesticides include:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Insecticides: <\/strong>Designed to control or kill insects.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Herbicides: <\/strong>Used to control or eliminate unwanted plants (weeds).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fungicides:<\/strong> Target fungi and prevent or control fungal diseases.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rodenticides:<\/strong> Designed to control rodents, such as mice and rats.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bactericides and Virucides: <\/strong>Target bacteria and viruses, respectively.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Nematicides:<\/strong> Control nematodes, which are microscopic worms that can damage plant roots.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concerns with Use of Pesticides\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Health Risks: <\/strong>Pesticide exposure poses serious health risks to farmers, and communities living in close proximity to agricultural areas.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Short-term effects may include nausea, dizziness, and skin irritation, while long-term exposure may lead to chronic health problems, including respiratory issues and certain types of cancer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Environmental Impact:<\/strong> Runoff from fields treated with pesticides contaminate water sources, leading to water pollution.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Residue in Food:<\/strong> Residues of pesticides remain on crops and find their way into the food supply.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Impact on Non-Target Organisms:<\/strong> Beneficial insects, pollinators, and natural predators can be harmed by pesticide applications, disrupting ecosystems and agricultural sustainability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Resistant Pests:<\/strong> Over time, pests can develop resistance to certain pesticides, rendering them less effective.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This results in a cycle of increased pesticide use, which further contributes to environmental and health issues.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Regulation of Pesticides in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Insecticide Act, 1968: <\/strong>Pesticides are regulated by the Ministry of Agriculture through the Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee (CIB &amp; RC) constituted under the Insecticide Act, 1968.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The CIB &amp; RC regulate the manufacturing, import, transport, storage of pesticides and accordingly the pesticides are registered\/ banned\/restricted by CIB &amp; RC.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>FSSAI aligns with the updated standards of maximum residue limit (MRL) (pesticides <strong>0.01 milligrammes per kilogramme (mg \/ kg) to 0.1 mg \/ kg in herbs) <\/strong>set by <strong>Codex Alimentarius Commission<\/strong> (an International Food Safety and Quality Standard setting body created by WHO and FAO of UN) and the European Union.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Anupam Verma Committee: <\/strong>It was constituted by the Department of Agriculture &amp; Farmers Welfare to review <strong>66 pesticides which are banned\/restricted<\/strong> in other countries but continued to be registered for use in India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Organic farming:<\/strong> Organic farming avoids the use of pesticides which results in food products that are free from harmful chemical residues with higher levels of essential nutrients.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The government is promoting use of <strong>biopesticides,<\/strong> which are generally safer than chemical pesticides.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>FSSAI has also asked State Food Safety Commissioners to undertake an <strong>awareness campaign on pesticides\/insecticides residues<\/strong> in fruits and vegetables.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Promotion of Integrated Pest Management (IPM):<\/strong> IPM involves a combination of biological, cultural, physical, and chemical control methods to manage pests in an environmentally sustainable manner.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concluding remarks<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Pesticides remain a vital tool in modern agriculture, contributing to food security and economic stability.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>However, their use must be carefully managed to balance agricultural productivity with environmental sustainability and human health.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/wildlife-biodiversity\/agricultural-pesticides-a-threat-to-over-70-wild-bee-species-study#:~:text=Agricultural%20pesticides%20a%20threat%20to%20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>DTE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new study has revealed that over 70 per cent of wild bee species, crucial for pollinating food crops, face alarming risks from pesticide residues in soil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35279"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35280,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35279\/revisions\/35280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}