Forbruget af plantegifte i det fattige Bangladesh er steget med raketfart og bønderne tilsyneladende ligeglade med alle advarsler om faren både for deres eget og andres helbred.
NARSINGDI, 3 September 2012 (IRIN): Despite government efforts to control pesticide misuse, farmers in Bangladesh continue to expose themselves and their communities to high health risks, experts say.
“Both farmers and the communities are at high risk of some serious health problems due to excessive (overdreven) and indiscriminate use of pesticides,” Shah Monir Hossain, a senior food safety adviser at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Bangladesh, told IRIN.
In June, 14 children died after eating or coming into contact with litchi fruit that had been grown with chemical pesticides in the northern district of Dinajpur, 280 km northeast of the capital, Dhaka, local media reported.
“Consumers should be aware of pesticides so that they wash foods,” said Mahmudur Rahman, director of the government-affiliated Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), adding:
“One of the dangers of pesticides is their mixing with water and the spread of waterborne diseases”.
According to the Ministry of Health, some 873 people died as a result of pesticide poisoning in 2011. But experts said the number is higher than the official figure as most cases go unreported.
Destroying fish, birds and many plants
Athula Kahandaliyanage, director of the department of sustainable development and healthy environments at the World Health Organization (WHO) in New Delhi, warned that “the chronic pesticides poisoning can cause organ failure and increases the risk for various types of cancer.”
“Along with health risks, pesticides are responsible for destroying fish, birds and many plants,” said Farida Akhter, director of the Dhaka-based Policy Research for Development Alternatives (UBINIG) an NGO advocating a ban on pesticides.
About 84 percent of the population is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, making pesticide usage a multimillion dollar industry.
A 2009 report published by the Department of Agricultural Extension on pesticide use said 89 percent of farmers used medium to strong chemical pesticides for vegetable cultivation.
Data from the Bangladesh Crop Protection Association show that in 2009, 45.172 tons of chemical pesticides were sold in the country against 15.632 in 2000 – an increase of almost 300 percent.
Production versus safety
Læs videre på
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96223/BANGLADESH-Farmers-not-heeding-pesticide-warnings
