JOIN USFertiliser Minister Ananth Kumar on Monday said his ministry will recommend banning pesticides that are found hazardous to biodiversity.
Calling for increasing the use of bio-pesticides, Kumar said his ministry proposes to recommend to the Department of Agriculture banning a pesticide that is harming bees, and is already banned in the US and some other countries.
The registration of pesticides, their standards and residue levels are governed by the Insecticides Act, 1968, which requires major changes to address the various issues affecting this segment, said Kumar while addressing the annual Agrochem Conference organised by Ficci here.
“The Pesticides Management Bill 2008 has been introduced in Parliament to replace the extant Insecticides Act, and the government will take all possible action to pass the Bill expeditiously so as to accelerate the growth and development of this sector,” said the minister.
In India, about 250 insecticides are registered on regular basis for use in the country. There are more than 60 technical-grade pesticides being manufactured indigenously by 125 producers and more than 500 pesticide formulators spread over the country.