Small tea growers ask Bengal to check sale of carcinogenic pesticide
Informist, Thursday, May 16, 2024
By Avishek Rakshit
KOLKATA – Small tea growers of West Bengal have asked the state government to check the sale of organophosphate insecticide, monocrotophos, in the state. Monocrotophos, along with 19 other pesticides and chemicals, was banned by the Centre last year as it is carcinogenic.
The West Bengal United Forum of Small Tea Growers Association has written to the state's principal secretary of the department of industries, commerce, and enterprise, pointing to the easy availability of the pesticide in the state and highlighting success of the neighbouring state of Assam in putting a stop to the sale of monocrotophos. A copy of the letter was accessed by Informist.
The association said that most of the tea produced by bought leaf factories fail the food safety test as laid out by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India due to presence of monocrotophos.
Around 50,000 small tea growers in West Bengal sell their produce to tea leaf agents who procure it and then sell it to factories which make tea. Small growers who on average cultivate tea on 1.5 acre of land, do not own tea making factories.
"There is no check which is done by the agent and the small grower is unaware about the ban on use of monocrotophos. As a result, the tea passes on to the factory, which also does not do any quality checking and processes it," a senior industry official said.
In its letter, the association said that it is hard to find out which producer had sold the tea that had the banned insecticide.
After the tea is sold to the bought leaf factory, they mix the tea leaves procured from different small growers and it is here that the leaves infected with monocrotophos get mixed with those without this pesticide, industry officials said. The leaf agent also does not keep a record on how and from whom which tea leaf was procured.
The association has asked the West Bengal government to increase the awareness about the banned chemicals saying that "growers are very much influenced by the village level agrochemical dealer".
Last year, around 240,000 small tea growers in the country accounted for 51% of the total 1.4 bln tn of tea produced in the country. In 2022-23 (Apr-Mar), West Bengal consumed 7.6% of the total 59,714 tn of pesticides used in the country and the plantation and cash crop segment, of which tea is a part, used a total of 7,155 tn of pesticides across the country, according to data from the agricultural ministry. End
