Pesticide sales may drop by Rs 1,300 crore

The Crop Care Federation of India, the intermediary body between pesticides industry and regulatory authority, is expecting the pesticides sale to come down by Rs 1,300 crore during 2005-06.

The industry estimates a sale of Rs 4700 crore, compared with Rs 6000 crore last year. Federation chairman R G Agarwal said the torrential rains and related crop losses were the reasons for the fall in pesticide sale.

Domestic sales of pesticide is expected to come down to Rs 2600 crore from Rs 4000 crore last year. But the Federation predicts a rise of Rs 100 crore in exports, which was Rs 2000 crore last year. Agarwal added that in Kharif season the pesticide industry would see 15 per cent drop in sale.

"Continuous rains have marred the agricultural production in western India. In the wake of the climatic variations the crop in Konkan, Vidharbha in Maharashtra, western-southern Gujarat and coastal Karnataka had fallen. Rice, cotton, groundnut and sugarcane are the worst affected crops in the rain,"said Agarwal.

He said the country's pesticide consumption was low in comparison with other leading agri-economies in the world.

"Only 18 per cent of the agricultural land in the country is under pesticide use. The area under plant protection is increasing by 1-2 per cent every year. Most of the major agricultural producers such as China, US, Japan and European countries are increasing their productivity by controlled use of pesticides," he added.

Cotton cultivation has the highest pesticide cover accounting for 50 per cent of the produce entering the domestic market. This year cotton farmers spent Rs 1,000 crore for pest control, which is half of last year. Just 30 per cent of plantation in the country is properly irrigated and the rest is at the mercy of the monsoon. That itself shows the importance, which the farmer gives to increase the production, Agarwal said.

According to him, the recent allegation against endosulfan use in kerala and its related diseases are the incidents fabricated by the NGOs. These allegations are not scientifically proven and no such incidents reported any where in the world, he commented.