Chandigarh, August 4: AROUND one-third of the pesticides used in India are spurious, which makes the spurious pesticide business in the country a sprawling industry of more than Rs 1,000 crore. This was highlighted by Dr R B Singh, Member, National Commission on Farmers, during the conference on ’Crop Protection Chemicals and Food Safety’ held at Confederation of Indian Industry ( CII) yesterday. Giving the example of genetically modified BT cotton, Dr Singh said that 40 per cent of the seeds sold in India are spurious.

Singh added that the recommendations have been made in the draft of the ’Jai Kisan-National Policy on Farmers’ to control the sale of such products. ‘‘The draft suggests the strengthening of national certifying and testing labs that analyse the crop residues. Moreover, the standards of these labs have to be strictly maintained,’’ he said.

Stating that corruption was one of the root causes of proliferation of the spurious products, R G Aggarwal, Chairman of Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI) said that the testing labs must be made accountable in case of wrongdoing. He also suggested the need for “joint analysis” by the government and the industry. ‘‘The sale of spurious pesticides was highest in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkand. The sale in Punjab is comparatively less,” he said.

Dr Singh also stressed the importance of setting up knowledge centres at the block level to create awareness about spurious pesticides and seeds among farmers. Stating that the farmers take loans and paid huge amounts to buy the pesticides, Dr Singh said that in the case of spurious pesticides, the chemicals did not have the desired effect. “ When this happens, the farmers apply even more pesticides and thus end up spending more. The excessive use in turn leads to building up of resistance among the pests. In this way, the farmers get caught in a vicious cycle,” said Dr Singh.