'We are spreading thorns in path of our farmers instead of petals': Dhanuka Agritech Group chairman RG Agarwal slams restrictive rules
(This story originally appeared in on Dec 21, 2023)
NEW DELHI: Export bans and other restrictions on produce are brought in at the cost of farmers and must be stopped, Dhanuka Agritech Group chairman RG Agarwal said, and asked why farmers cannot benefit when there is price rise in products but middlemen are allowed to do so.
Speaking at Times Of India's Right To Excellence Agri-Tech Summit 2023, Agarwal said if such restrictive laws are allowed to continue, then farmers will remain poor and their children will reject agriculture as viable employment opportunity and «no one will be left to grow our vegetables».
Illegal import of pesticide
He further said that Indian laws hold domestic pesticide companies to very high standards of quality, but little to no action is taken against illegal import of spurious or duplicate agriculture products.
«The government should stop the illegal trade of pesticides and chemicals before anything else,» he said, adding that nearly 90% of pesticide products being used by small farmers in villages are spurious imports.
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«Our fight is not against genuine products but against material being imported that is spurious… we also want government to take action against officials who test these spurious products and give their approval for use in our farms,» Agarwal asserted, adding that such products are inflicting irreparable damage to farms.
«Such spurious products end up damaging the crops and then we get news of farmer suicides,» he added.
Agarwal also questioned the government's reluctance in providing comprehensive and extended data protection on pesticide products.
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