Pesticide Use in Indian Agriculture: Policy Alternatives for Environmental Health

Abstract

This article makes a case for introducing actionable policy alternatives to address the human health hazards posed by agricultural use of pesticides in India. Pesticides, which include insecticides, rodenticides, herbicides, and fungicides, are widely used in global agricultural practices to protect crops from pest attacks. While pesticides are considered important for their role in boosting agricultural productivity and meeting global food security targets, the article argues that pesticides have a detrimental impact on human health both via occupational and non-occupational routes of exposure. It discusses the human health effects of prolonged pesticide exposure both in the international and national contexts. The article shows that despite a lower aggregate and per capita pesticide consumption vis-à-vis other countries at the national level, the use of agricultural pesticides in India has led to a disproportionate burden of premature deaths due to chronic diseases. By categorising the registered Indian pesticides as per the World Health Organization’s toxicity criterion, the paper argues that unregulated sale of both registered and unregistered pesticides must be addressed to counter the broader health hazards associated with pesticides in general, and the looming burden of chronic diseases that India is faced with in particular.