Use of toxic chemicals in agriculture

Alaul Alam :
Recently, a media report has exposed that farmers are harvesting green tomatoes and spraying harmful chemical to ripen tomatoes rampant. They are doing such harmful acts only to get more profits. Winter season has begun. Markets have abounded with fresh vegetables and fruits. There is an increasing demand of ripen tomatoes in the market. The price of ripen tomatoes is higher three or four times than that of green tomatoes in the vegetable markets. So, farmers do not want to wait anymore to leave tomatoes ripen naturally. Certainly, farmers and traders see a good deal selling their products at a higher price. But do they have any time to ponder over consumer health?
The use of toxic chemicals in agriculture is not new in our country. In different phases from farmers to traders our agro-products are being heavily contaminated. Things get frustrating when we notice that many forbidden toxic chemicals are used in agriculture. In the past it was evident that dishonest traders would use different toxic chemicals in the consuming products. But these days do we see that our farmers leg behind spraying and using toxic chemicals in fruits and vegetables?
It is no denial that the whole world is emphasizing food safety and health security. Different international agencies are working across the globe to ensure safe food for people in the world. Many developed countries have banned the use of toxic chemicals and pesticides in agriculture while many other have restricted the use of toxic chemicals in agriculture.
However, sources say that many chemical substances considered dangerous by the United Nation’s World Health Organization are still being used in our agriculture. According to a study conducted by Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), the use of toxic pesticides by Bangladeshi farmers has increased many times over the years. Studies have revealed that the intensity of using chemicals and pesticides are higher in vegetables in Bangladesh than many other countries in the world.
Due to the overuse of harmful pesticides in the last some years our vegetable export to different countries has declined to an extent. Experts warn that the use of toxic chemicals on vegetables and fruits are likely to create many diseases in human bodies including cancer, skin diseases, and hypertension and kidney diseases. Besides, these chemicals produce nitrous oxide emissions, which contribute to contaminating the environment posing a serious threat to human being, livestock, wild and aquatic lives.
Undeniably, Bangladesh has made a remarkable progress in agriculture in the last five decades though it has lost many of its cultivable lands due to accommodating the great number of people. The use of modern technology along with high-yield and short duration crop varieties has helped this sector bring green revolution. Our agriculture contributes vastly to attaining food security for the country. But a long debate arises that are we not compromising nutrition by allowing harmful substances in the corn fields? Do we have any scope to disregard health safety and nutrition for human beings?
In Bangladesh context, remarkable progress has not yet been noticed to make the farmers aware of organic farming practice. The organic farming practice in the country is still confined to an experimental basis. Recent sources estimate that organic farming covers 0.177 million hectares of land which is only 2 per cent of the country’s total cultivable land.
The reasons are many why farmers do not show their interest in organic farming. They are pre-determined by a concept that if they shift to organic farming practice, their financial return will not be satisfactory compared to that of conventional approach in agriculture. Moreover, it is thought that in attaining food security they find no alternative to the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Not only that, most of our farmers hardly have trainings about the application of chemicals and pesticides in the corn fields. Health concern deepens when we see that many farmers spray chemicals on the vegetables and fruits just before bringing them in the market.
The consumers see no alternative to taking poisonous substances in the guise of fresh vegetables unless farmers are aware of healthy farming practice. Trainings are a must for the agricultural workers when and how they will apply pesticides. In the same vein, selling and using toxic chemicals must be banned to save human beings from different severe health hazards. More importantly, it is very urgent to ensure strict government monitoring against unscrupulous traders and growers who are posing a threat to public health.

(The writer teaches at Prime University).