Yavatmal: A three-day awareness drive among farmers about precautionary measures while spraying pesticides in their farms was launched by collector Dr Rajesh Deshmukh on Thursday. Tehsildar Sachin Shejal, district agriculture officer Navnath Kolpakar, Agri Research Centre scientist Dr Suresh Nemade and others accompanied the collector.
The collector himself demonstrated correct method of spraying pesticides on the farm owned by Suresh Padsekar of village Bhisni, as farmers, agriculture and revenue department officials, and representatives of seeds and pesticide manufacturing companies looked on. He also distributed free safety kits and ‘Kamgandha’ traps to farmers as part of the district wide awareness drive.
Talking to farmers, the collector said 50% of cultivable land in the district is under cotton. “Last year, there was huge damage to cotton crops due to attack of pink bollworm. Large scale usage of pesticide recklessly had caused deaths. It should not recur this year and hence the district administration is keen to create awareness among farmers about the use of safety kits while spraying pesticides,” he said.
“We have prepared a taluka wise list, and seed and pesticide manufacturing companies have been allotted areas for their representatives to visit during the awareness drive and guide farmers and farm labourers on use of the kits and other precautionary measures,” Deshmukh said, adding that the health department would conduct check up camps in each taluka to examine farmers and labourers, and guide them.
Meanwhile, the report from Wani tehsil says that pink bollworm flies were sighted in village Korambi and some other parts of the tehsil, causing alarm among farmers.
The collector also visited GMC on Thursday, where five persons are still admitted due to pesticide poisoning, and inquired about their health.
The total number of those treated for pesticide poisoning this year is pegged at 15 so far, while 24 had died last year. The compensation for the deceased has been increased to Rs4 lakh from Rs2 lakh announced earlier.
