Saturday, April 5, 2025

Are we consuming poison?

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For a long time, farmers in Meghalaya have been actively using chemical fertilizers and pesticides, both by-products of the Green Revolution which sought to increase the yield of food crops at a time when India was facing food insecurity and had to import food grains at huge costs. The Green Revolution has since been evaluated for its negative impacts. Agricultural scientists have found that many of the pesticides used during the period of the Green Revolution (between the 60’s to 90’s) are highly toxic to humans. Even those pesticides advertised as “green,” are not necessarily 100% safe. In 2008, Researchers at Punjab University discovered DNA damage in 30 percent of Indian farmers who treated plants with herbicides and pesticides. An additional study found heavy metals and pesticide chemicals in drinking water. These substances are harmful and can cause serious health problems. Some of these problems may occur because farmers do not know how to handle and dispose of toxic chemicals and the consequences of overuse and of not following instructions.

In Meghalaya, this Government had announced five years ago that the state would go organic. But there are steps to achieve that goal. How can the soil be detoxified? Have those steps been taken yet? There is a strong lobby of companies selling fertilizers and pesticides which successive governments have been doing business deals with. It is obvious that such deals also mean huge cuts going into the pockets of politicians and technocrats. Hence going organic does not make sense for such people. And recently we heard farmers complaining that because they have been asked to go organic so their yield has dwindled? Does it mean that farmers are alright with poisoning the soil and human beings so long as it makes business sense for them? Don’t farmers know that people are willing to pay more for organically certified produce?

Another danger to our collective health comes from the chemical preservatives used to preserve fish coming from Andhra Pradesh which includes formalin. Also the different hormones pushed into pigs and chicken are health hazards. Isn’t it the role of food inspectors to take samples from the market and get them tested? Is it also not the brief of the government to safeguard the health of its citizens? Can this be an election agenda?

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