Farmer deaths in Yavatmal, Akola, Amarwati and Nagpur brought the issue of pesticide management to the fore for a short while, but the unsafe use of pesticides continues unabated.
Yavatmal (Maharashtra): Almost two years after witnessing more than 40 deaths caused by hazardous pesticide spray, farmers of Yavatmal in Maharashtra still live under the constant threat of exposure to toxicity.
Neither do they have any clue of safety guidelines, nor do they have protective gear to protect themselves from the deadly chemicals. Moreover, they are wholly dependent on shopkeepers and retailers for aid and advice while purchasing the pesticide for their crops. Despite this, both the Congress and the ruling BJP, while making lofty promises to improve the condition of farmers, have failed to pass a legislation in Parliament which could have made the farmers’ life a little easier.
“In 2017, when 40 farmers died and more than a thousand fell sick due to pesticide spray (in the Vidarbha region), it was a wakeup call for all of us,” says 51-year-old Mohan Jadhav, a farmer from Shioni in Yavatmal.
According to him, most of the small farmers used to spray the pesticide in their fields themselves for years, but it’s for the first time they saw the “deadly effect” of the chemical spray on such a large scale. “Now most of the farmers employ poor labourers to this ‘risky job’. Anyone who can afford to pay someone else, doesn’t spray the pesticide himself. Who would like to risk his or her life,” Jadhav told News18.
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