Initiative to reduce toxic environmental impacts of agriculture

The Indian government, together with the governments of Ecuador, Kenya, Laos, Philippines, Uruguay, and Vietnam have come together to launch a $379 million initiative to combat pollution from the use of pesticides and plastics in agriculture, as announced by a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) press release earlier this month. The Financing Agrochemical Reduction and Management Programme (FARM) — led by UNEP with financial support from the Global Environment Facility — is a five-year initiative to combat agrochemical pollution.

A Deccan Herald article recently highlighted that data from the Indian Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare shows about 60,000 tonnes of chemical pesticides were used annually between 2017-18 and 2021-22. Farmers are waging a multi-pronged war, forced to contend with new pests and diseases. The consequence is that consuming food contaminated with pesticides has devastating short-term and long-term impacts. In fact, a study by Pesticides Action Network-India found that 56 pesticides used in India were carcinogenic. It was accidental contamination of food samples in 1958 that resulted in over 100 deaths, which prompted the government to put the Insecticides Act 1968 in place. However, currently, the law has been found to be highly inadequate in dealing with the growing number of agrochemicals flooding the fields, as farmers look to toxic chemicals to protect crops. Though the Union government launched the Monitoring of Pesticide Residues at National Level programme in 2005-06, very little data is available to understand the depth of the problem.

According to a Down to Earth report, insecticides, fungicides and herbicides are used in India, with insecticides forming the highest share. India is among the largest producers of pesticides in the world. According to a report by database Research and Markets, the Indian pesticides market is projected to reach a value of Rs 316 billion by 2024, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 8.1% per cent during 2019-2024. The report urges that today, there are enough well-proven, successful alternative agro-ecological methods of pest management without using any chemical pesticide in India and globally. Such methods must be mainstreamed and promoted among farmers.

As the UNEP press release points out, chemicals play a crucial role in farming, with nearly 4 billion tons of pesticides and 12 billion kg of agricultural plastics used every year. Despite their benefits for food yields, these chemicals pose significant risks to human health and the environment. As many as 11,000 people die from the toxic effects of pesticides annually, and chemical residues can degrade ecosystems, diminishing soil health and farmers’ resilience to climate change. The opening burning of agricultural plastics also contributes to an air pollution crisis that causes one in nine deaths worldwide. Highly hazardous pesticides and mismanaged agricultural plastics release toxic persistent organic pollutants (POPs) – chemicals which do not break down in the environment and contaminate air, water, and food. These inputs are generally cheaper than sustainable alternatives, giving farmers little incentive to adopt better practices.

The FARM programme seeks to change that, elaborating the business case for banks and policymakers to reorient policy and financial resources towards farmers to help them adopt low- and non-chemical alternatives to toxic agrochemicals and facilitate a transition towards better practices. The five-year programme is projected to prevent over 51,000 tons of hazardous pesticides and over 20,000 tons of plastic waste from being released, while avoiding 35,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions and protecting over 3 million hectares of land from degradation as farms and farmers convert to low-chemical and non-chemical alternatives. To do this, the FARM programme will support government regulation to phase out POPs-containing agrochemicals and agri-plastics and adopt better management standards, while strengthening banking, insurance and investment criteria to improve the availability of effective pest control, production alternatives and trade in sustainable produce.

The FARM launch event convened representatives from all seven countries, with over 100 partners and stakeholders directly involved in the programme, including public and private banks, policy makers, farmer cooperatives, agrochemical and plastic manufacturers, international organisations, civil society, academia, and retailers. It marks a step change in collaborative efforts between governments, financial institutions, farmers and manufacturers to combat agricultural pollution, paving the way for a more equitable and resilient food system.