Herbicides have led to agricultural prosperity but also increased the incidence of disease. India needs to wake up to the twin perils of genetically modified crops and herbicide use. Prosperity can’t be ushered at the cost of human life
Farmers in India and across the world are increasingly adopting modern technologies, genetically modified seeds and advanced pesticides in order to maximise productivity and ensure crucial food security for an ever-growing global population. Certain types of ‘super’ pesticides or herbicides have played an exceptional role in assisting farmers to cope with the menace of weeds, pests and crop diseases.
Over the past two decades, herbicide use has led to phenomenal agricultural prosperity but correspondingly, it has increased the incidence of terminal diseases as well. Environmental activists have, for long, held herbicide use as the underlying cause for the spurt in dreadful diseases.
Steadily worsening health and lower life expectancy has prompted leading universities and international research institutions to conduct advanced studies in order to find scientific evidence that proves the role of herbicides in triggering terminal diseases such as cancer.
A recent report released on March 20, by the United Nations International Agency on Cancer Research, has reinforced the long-held belief about the causative role played by herbicides in serious diseases. The report mentions herbicide glyphosate and insecticide malathion as carcinogenic. The Indian Institute of Toxicology Research also echoes these findings. As a part of the report, IACR has issued an advisory to various Governments and concerned regulatory organisations across the world to design suitable legislation in the light of the new findings.
The IACR report is alarming since glyphosate is the most produced weed killer in the world. First introduced in the 1970s, under the brand Roundup, glyphosate is now manufactured generically. It controls weed proliferation in a wide range of crops such as cereals, tea and oilseeds. Glyphosate is a non-selective systemic herbicide absorbed by actively growing foliage, which is rapidly translocated throughout the plant, thereby, killing the plant from the roots.
With a million new cases being reported every year, cancer seems to be tightening its grip in India. According to experts, the incidence of the killer disease is expected to rise five-fold by 2025. This situation is made worse by the free availability of glyphosate in India.
According to renowned environmentalist Vandana Shiva, the usage of glyphosate can also precipitate autism, kidney failure and diabetes. In the past, India permitted large-scale field trials of Monsanto’s herbicide-tolerant maize crops across India, despite the known ill-effects that these crops pose to human health and the environment.
A taskforce set up by the Government and headed by mr MS Swaminathan stated that India should not permit herbicide-tolerant, genetically modified crops as they’d lead to a loss in employment in the agriculture sector, especially for women whose survival depends on manual weeding. But the recent approval by the Government for herbicide-resistant soybean trials shows that India is oblivious to the adverse societal and environmental impacts of GM crops. With rapid proliferation of genetically modified crops, the use of herbicide glyphosate seems all set to grow.
The increased use of glyphosate-resistant crops is known to cause ecological imbalance and effect biodiversity of the region. For instance, according to studies conducted in the United States, regions having GM crops have witnessed a marked decline in pollinator habitat, as the glyphosate used on the crops destroyed precious food source for wildlife, such as milkweed and other resources.
Besides damaging biodiversity, the use of glyphosate during a GM crop season also has a telling impact on the air and water quality of the region. A study conducted by the US Geological Survey, to monitor glyphosate content in air and water samples in the States of Iowa and Mississippi across two growing seasons, detected 60 to 100 per cent glyphosate in both air and rain samples.
Moreover, glyphosate concentration in rainfall was found to be at a higher level than for any other previously monitored pesticide. Given the harmful effects of glyphosate on human health, the findings are disturbing.
GM modified crops in the Indian context can also have another devastating consequence for the fledgling organic farming industry. Allowing GM crops to be grown close to organic and non-GM conventional produce, increases the risk of genetic cross-contamination, as pollen from GM crops have the potential to drift to non-GM crops and germinate. Since GM crops are prohibited under organic farming standards, the organic farmers may suffer significant financial losses, if certified organic crops become polluted with genetically modified pollen.
India needs to wake up to the twin perils of GM crops and herbicide use, as prosperity cannot be ushered at the cost of human life and environment. In the best interests of community health, the Government must check the rampant use of glyphosate and discourage genetically modified crops.