The RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM) demanded a complete ban on the use of glyphosate on Friday and urged the Union agriculture ministry to withdraw its notification on a restricted use of the herbicide.

 

The agriculture ministry, in a draft notification issued on July 8, restricted the use of glyphosate only through pest control operators (PCOs).

 

Terming the notification "ill-conceived", the SJM said the proposed measure of allowing the use of glyphosate through PCOs is meaningless as it will be impossible to implement it and control the illegal practices by which the herbicide is presently being used.

 

"We express our objection very categorically that the entire concept of restricted use is ill-conceived and what is needed is a total ban on glyphosate use in India," SJM co-convener Ashwani Mahajan said.

 

Claiming that the use of glyphosate will be "economically destructive" for the country, he said it will destroy employment and remove a vital income source for poor rural households, who depend on weeding income. At the same time, it could also lead to rejection of export consignments containing glyphosate residues by those countries, which have strict levels for pesticide residues.

 

Mahajan also claimed that glyphosate contaminates the soil and water, destroys useful plant species and that the chemical is under various litigations in the US.

 

Besides, there have been multilpe representations coming in from various states as well as lobby groups to support the ban on the herbicide in the recent past. 

 

Source: PTI