GENERAL ARTICLE CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 95, NO. 4, 25 AUGUST 2008 457 The authors are in the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science Campus, Bangalore 560 012, India. *For correspondence. (e-mail: pkshetty17@gmail.com) Crop protection stewardship in India: Wanted or unwanted P. K. Shetty*, M. Murugan and K. G. Sreeja Use of pesticides in India has substantially increased in recent years. It is increasingly becoming an inevitable input in intensive agriculture systems, which have mainly been fuelled by changes in cropping pattern and practice. Survey results confirmed that there has been a widespread lack of awareness on pesticides and their appropriate handling among the applicators in India. Implemen- tation of alternate pest management strategies to reduce pesticide consumption was found to be in- effective. Pesticide policies must be effectively linked with appropriate pest management strategies in order to achieve systematic reduction in the usage of pesticides for agricultural sustainability. Keywords: Agriculture, crop protection, pesticides, stewardship. ONE of the eight goals listed by the United Nations Hun- ger Task Force is related to the conservation of nature and protection of the environment 1 . Pesticides (crop pro- tection chemicals) are specifically formulated to be toxic to living organisms and as such they are equally hazard- ous to humans. The impact of pesticides on the environ- ment is alarming 2 . Pesticide use is increasing even in developed countries like the United States; substantial in- crease (26%) of pesticides like methyl bromide has been reported particularly for the benefit of tomato and straw- berry growers 3 . India has 170 mha of arable land with av- erage pesticide consumption of 0.5 kg/ha. In terms of total consumption, India is placed tenth in the world 4 . However, the present level should not be equated with low risk to health and environment, given the prevalence of toxic pesticides allowed in India. Interestingly, there is always scope for more pesticide consumption in India in the coming decades owing to the growing population coupled with high demand for foodgrains and intensifica- tion of agriculture under fast changing climate. Plant pro- tection chemicals currently cover about 30% of the total cultivated area in India, of which insecticides account for 61.39% followed by fungicides (19.06%), herbicides (16.75%) and others (2.80%) 5 . The green revolution was possible in India due to application of only a few chemi- cal pesticides and fertilizers, particularly in Punjab and Haryana, and this had led to serious soil–water problems. Now there are more than 200 registered pesticides (ma- jority of them are toxic insecticides and fungicides) available for the Indian farmers. Developed countries use more herbicides than insecticides and fungicides, whereas Indian farmers apply more insecticides and fungicides. On comparing toxicity levels (per unit basis) of various pesticide categories, insecticides and fungicides have several times more toxicity than herbicides. These toxic chemicals are used indiscriminately and therefore, both environmental and health problems could be alarming in India. The cropping pattern in India is fast changing, particu- larly towards export-oriented, value-added crops (mainly major spices, fruits, vegetables and industrial crops). Some of these crops like grapes require as high as 20 sprays in a year. Similarly, other crops such as small cardamom (12 insecticide and six fungicide sprays per year), irrigated chillies and cotton need 12 rounds of pesticide sprays per season. Therefore, pesticides are being pumped into such agro-ecosystems in India. Interestingly, majority of small farmers doing subsistence farming under rainfed condi- tion (sorghum, bajra, etc.) use limited chemicals and bio- pesticides as they have fewer problems due to insect pests and diseases. As far as pesticide price is concerned, it is not always true that biopesticides are cheaper than syn- thetic pesticides. For example, neem-based branded bio- pesticides in India (US$ 10/l) are costlier than endosulfan (US$ 7/l) or dimethoate (US$ 7/l). Unfortunately, the area under subsistence farming is decreasing drastically because of the fast changing socio-economic conditions and climatic vagaries. The changing regional climate is also exerting pressures on the pest population, which is directly reflected in the consumption of pesticides. India is the second wettest country in the world, receiving maximum rainfall run-off considering its geographical area. Practically 1% loss of one pound pesticide applied in an acre can contaminate all of the drainage from a field in a normal rainfall year at 5 ppb level, according to a re- cent study 6 . Pesticides are either soluble or less soluble in water; therefore, it is obvious that the chance of contami- nating and polluting the environment is high under Indian