http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Water_turns_poison_in_Punjab_villages/articleshow/2629963.cms
Highlighting the dangers of unchecked industrialization and pesticide-invasive agriculture in India. This is bound to grow - I am afraid that Gujarat will be next. The recent 5 fold increase in agricultural income has been at the back of increased use of chemical fertilizer and pesticide.
We need urgently to recreate IPR in organic farming where India has a huge competitive advantage - we have the most arable land and crop cycles throughout the year. Even America does not have that. Most important of all we have traditions of working with nature to create plenty. This can be done - remember the writing of Dharampal
"Between 1762 and 1766 there were villages which produced up to 12 tons of paddy a hectare."
That figure is not out of a hat but out of British Surveys of India - and that yield is today not possible even with the use of pesticide. In a few years it will be too late to reverse this in India - given our pathetic administration and institutional response - we will have many more Mahal's
2 comments:
Outlook's article is very scary. Farmers could not care less and look only to increase their land's productivity. As you pointed out, Gujarat can very well be the next in line, not forgetting Andhra and other states where I have seen farmers merrily mixing toxic red color even on the dried red chillis. At this rate, we can soon be looking at a mass epidemic of unimaginable proportions.
Eternalsoul
"few years down the line" has already arrived. we are living the nightmare, or anyone thinks he is doing fine, let me know
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