After the demise of the paddy farmer, Brunda Sahoo, from Bargarh district in Odisha, the state government took two weeks to respond to the serious step of the debt-ridden farmer. The Odisha govt. responded by banning 11 pesticide companies who failed the quality check. The companies were charged with selling fake pesticides. “No sale” notices have been issued against the companies and hence they are not eligible to sell their products in the country anymore.
100 samples were sent for testing this month whereas half of it, i.e. 50 samples were sent the month before, the quality check was failed by these 11 companies.
The menace of fake pesticide has been succumbing the farmers to death as this pesticide fail to serve the purpose of crop protection and do damage the fields rather than saving it. Pesticide takes investments of thousands for the field and the investment goes down the drain. Paddy is one of the major crops produces in the coastal area of Odisha. Also, most of the population in Odisha takes rice as a staple crop. Brunda Sahoo from Odisha committed suicide after his paddy crop failed due to the spurious pesticides failed to protect his paddy crop from brown planthoppers.
Union minister of state for agriculture, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, visited areas in Bargarh, Boudh and Sonepur districts which were affected by brown planthoppers. The step has been widely appreciated and accepted by the citizens.
