India's Deadly Chemical Addiction
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 10:48 am
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/ ... =rss-world
Extract:
Punjab's lethal pesticide legacy can be traced to the Green Revolution of the 1960s and '70s, when high-yielding varieties of cotton were introduced in the region's relatively arid Malwa belt. Initially the move was successful as yields and prices were good. But farmers soon discovered that the cotton was highly susceptible to pests, and ended up spending huge amounts on pesticides. As the pests, such as pink bollworm and aphids, became increasingly resistant to chemical spraying, farmers reacted by laying on even more, sometimes mixing two or more products against all scientific evidence. The region virtually became a chemical laboratory. The expense of spraying put many farmers deep in debt, yet they remain vulnerable to outbreaks such as a mealy bug attack last year that destroyed 70% of the crop. "Earlier, we used less water, traditional crops and organic manure. Now, it's all chemicals," says Sarmukh Singh, a 93-year-old patriarch in Jhajjal. "We've got our land addicted, but we don't know how to fight this addiction."
There's more and more organic cotton around - had to go to town yesterday for a meeting and "dress up", and then noticed that all my clothes apart from the socks and boots were organic! And they weren't expensive, either (t-shirt £8, trousers £20 - admittedly, sales items...). Could even have added an organic jumper, had the weather demanded it.
Extract:
Punjab's lethal pesticide legacy can be traced to the Green Revolution of the 1960s and '70s, when high-yielding varieties of cotton were introduced in the region's relatively arid Malwa belt. Initially the move was successful as yields and prices were good. But farmers soon discovered that the cotton was highly susceptible to pests, and ended up spending huge amounts on pesticides. As the pests, such as pink bollworm and aphids, became increasingly resistant to chemical spraying, farmers reacted by laying on even more, sometimes mixing two or more products against all scientific evidence. The region virtually became a chemical laboratory. The expense of spraying put many farmers deep in debt, yet they remain vulnerable to outbreaks such as a mealy bug attack last year that destroyed 70% of the crop. "Earlier, we used less water, traditional crops and organic manure. Now, it's all chemicals," says Sarmukh Singh, a 93-year-old patriarch in Jhajjal. "We've got our land addicted, but we don't know how to fight this addiction."
There's more and more organic cotton around - had to go to town yesterday for a meeting and "dress up", and then noticed that all my clothes apart from the socks and boots were organic! And they weren't expensive, either (t-shirt £8, trousers £20 - admittedly, sales items...). Could even have added an organic jumper, had the weather demanded it.
I've met so many people who have been permanently physically damaged by a single exposure to pesticides, never mind regular exposure to cocktails of different chemicals! What a terrible state of affairs