By Praveen Prabhakar
Posted on
Vital to shun pesticides for organic farming: Vandana Shiva
Dehradun: Agricultural pests cannot be destroyed completely no matter how much pesticide is used. While pesticide and fertilisers along with genetically modified crops have ended up adding poison to
food, farmers who pursue organic agriculture earn up to 10 times more than other farmers while producing food that is high in nutrition. Noted activist Vandana Shiva said this while speaking at the launch of the book ‘Poisons in Our Food: Links between Pesticides and Disease’ authored by her along with Dr Mira Shiva and Dr Vaibhav Singh. She launched the book at Natraj- The Green Bookstore along with cardiologist Dr Kuldeep Datta.
Regarding organic farming and its benefits Vandana Shiva pointed out that in places like Uttarakhand where the sizes of individual farms are small, the nutritional content in the yield is considerably higher. “Farmers in Chakrata region who organically cultivate Rajma (kidney beans) earn 100 times more than farmers in Madhya Pradesh who cultivate soya bean. Sikkim has become the first pesticide-free state and the farmers are healthier and happier. The people also are healthier and happier. Uttarakhand has the potential to tap this resource and produce organic food enough to supply the entire North India,” she said. She also spoke about corporate giants like Monsanto and Bayer that invest heavily to ensure that people use pesticides.
She also mentioned the now well known case in California where 3000 cancer patients have sued Monsanto. She also stressed on the need to protect Uttarakhand from toxic-riddled agriculture, adding that farmers who cultivate organically earn 10 times more than those who don’t.
