• Says, Punjab led the country in freedom struggle, food production and now Punjab will prove to be a leader in reducing use of poison
• One-day workshop on ‘’issues and concerns on highly hazardous pesticides use’’ held at the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Secretariat
• Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian and Dr. Balbir Singh participated
Emphasizing that the time has come to reduce the use of dangerous pesticides and medicines in Punjab, Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan said that it has become a pressing issue in terms of saving human life and ensuring good health. It has also become imperative to solve it by adopting a systematic method.
Attending a workshop on ‘’issues and concerns on highly hazardous pesticides use’’ held at the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Secretariat today, S. Sandhwan said that Punjab has led the country in the freedom struggle and in the production of food grains and now Punjab will also prove to be a leader in reducing the use of poisons and pesticides.
Emphasizing on the use of organic farming and heritage farming techniques, he said that with pesticides and chemicals, human health and the environment are slowly moving in a dangerous direction and there is an urgent need to make farmers, people and society aware about it.
S. Sandhwan said that reducing or stopping the consumption of pesticides in Punjab has become the need of the hour. Pesticides are reaching humans through air, soil, plants and water and having a bad effect. He said that in the same way, herbicides are not only harmful to weeds but are also having a destructive effect on humans. Emphasizing the need to convey the message of this deadly impact to the farmers and people at the grass root level, he said that it has become necessary to deal more strictly with the usera of banned pesticides in Punjab.
Speaking on this occasion, Gurmeet Singh Khudian said that although the production increases with the use of pesticides, this phenomenon is gradually becoming a threat to human existence. Emphasizing on strictness against the use of banned pesticides, he said that the use of pesticides for the sake of more profit is a very dangerous trend. Instead efforts should be made to get rid of it with the help of the government, self-help organizations, farmers and the society. He said that the following steps should be taken to reduce or stop the use of pesticides. The message needs to be conveyed to the grassroots level so that the future generations can get a good environment to live.
In his address, Dr. Balbir Singh, Health Minister Punjab said that the use of pesticides for human health has reached a very dangerous level. He said that due to the polluted water coming from the industries, the level of uranium and dangerous chemicals in the soil is increasing, due to which deadly diseases like cancer are increasing. Stressing on reduction in the use of chemicals, he said that farmers and common people should be made aware of this because it has become imperative.
Speaking on this occasion, Special Chief Secretary Agriculture Mr. KAP Sinha said that the state government is already working to reduce the use of medicines and pesticides. He said that farmers, medicine sellers and companies are trying to earn more profit while consumers need pure grains and vegetables for proper food. He said that the Punjab Government has banned 10 pesticides, which are related to the Basmati crop. He said that no one is allowed to use banned medicines. He said that the State Government has no dearth of funds for necessary research work to reduce the use of pesticides.
On this occasion Mr. Kumar Amit MD Punjab Agro Export Corporation, Mr. Umendra Dutt Mission Executive Director Kheti Virasat Mission, Mr. Satish Sinha Associate Director Toxics Link, Dr. B.S. Ghuman former VC Punjabi University Patiala, Dr. Sukhpal Singh Chairman Punjab State Farmer Commission, Dr. Sohan Singh Walia Director School of Organic Farming PAU, Mr. Jaswant Singh Punjab Agriculture Director, Mr. Piyush Mohapatra and Alka Dubey Program Coordinator Toxics Link, Professor Ramesh Arora Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University Fatehgarh Sahib, Dr. Ajmer Singh Bhatt Director Research PAU Ludhiana, Dr. Gurvinder Kaur, Mr. Gursimran Dhanoa, Dr. Sachin Gupta, Dr. Arunjeet Singh, Dr. Subhash Verma, Dr. M.S. Bhullar, Mr. Sukhwinder Pappi, Mr. Surinder Maheshwari, Mr. Karan Bhuttiwala, Mr. Baljit Kang, Mr. Manbir Reddu, Mr. Dharamjeet Singh Mavi, Prof. Baljit Saharan, Mr. Ashish Gupta, Dr. Bhupesh Gupta, Dr. Rajendra Thappar and Mr. Raspinder Singh etc. also addressed.
