Don’t use banned pesticides, basmati growers in Punjab told

CHANDIGARH: Punjab agriculture department has asked the growers of premium basmati to not use nine different forms of fungicides, insecticides and pesticides as it would lead to rejection in the international market.

These nine fungicides, insecticides and pesticides have already been banned in the state (see box for details) and the department has released a list of alternatives that could be used in a controlled manner. “The current kharif season has opened on a good note, particularly for basmati growers, as there are lots of orders from premium-rice eating countries across the world. So we don’t want to take a chance by using pesticides and fungicides more than required,” said secretary agriculture KS Pannu.

He added that the crop is currently two to three weeks old, which is the right time to use pesticides and urea. “Our department recommends its judicious use,” said Pannu.

This year, the area under aromatic basmati variety crossed 17.5 lakh acres, which is two lakh acres more than the previous kharif season.in 2018, following reports of European countries testing premium basmati rice imported from India for traces of fungicide tricyclazole, Saudi Arabia had also asked the exporters to cut the use of fungicide. Significantly, Saudi Arabia is the largest importer of basmati from the country, buying 70% of the total consignment. It was then a major embarrassment for the state’s basmati growers and exporters as tonnes of the produce were rejected, the return of each container leading to a loss of Rs 15 lakh.

Subsequent to that, the exporters association and the state agriculture department had launched a campaign against excessive use of pesticide, fungicide and insecticide on basmati crop.earlier this season, the basmati exporters had asked the growers of this aromatic variety to increase the area under cultivation, saying that they have orders in hand, despite thepandemic affecting the economy