The rampant use of weedicides in coffee and tea plantations and ginger and plantain farms in Wayanad district has raised concern among local residents. Environmentalists have flagged the public health risk posed by the unscientific use of weedicides.
“Earlier, weedicides used to be applied only on big tea and coffee plantations in the district, but now, it has become very common, and it is being used even in rice fields,” said N. Badusha, president of Wayanad Prakruthi Samrakshana Samiti. “The indiscriminate use of weedicides on plantations and paddy fields will also pollute the nearby waterbodies in the district,” he added.
Many a time, farmers use weedicides to get rid of weeds to avoid labour charges. “For removing weeds on plantations by using a brush-cutter, a farmer has to spend ₹6,000 to ₹7,000 an acre, but he can get weeds removed at half the cost using weedicides,” said K. Aswin, a farmer at Pulpally. Shortage of workers, high cost, and uncontrolled growth of weeds owing to climate change also forced farmers to use chemical weedicides, he added.
A study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has shown that weedicides cause cancer. Repeated use of weedicides on plantations has affected the biodiversity of the district as many plants, including medicinal plants, are facing total extinction.
There were occasions when farmers used an overdose of weedicides on the advice of fertiliser dealers, and it adversely affected even the structure of the soil, said Mr. Badusha. Excessive use of weedicides affects soil quality, killing earthworms and other useful bacteria. Recent studies have also found that fish population in rivers has been dwindling considerably.
