2nd edition of seminar on role of agrochemicals for sustainable agriculture held

Chandigarh, September 20, 2019: Indian Chemical Council jointly with NCPAH, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India and Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, GoI organized 2nd edition of Seminar on Role of Agrochemicals for Sustainable Agriculture on Friday at Chandigarh.

The aim of this Seminar was to empower farmers with the best and latest of technology in agriculture

P R Rao, Secretary, Dept. of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Govt. of India inaugurated the Seminar as Chief Guest. Rao, along with other speakers for the session (R G Agarwal, Chairman, Dhanuka Agritech; Dr R K Khandal, President R&D, India Glycols Ltd; Krishan Bir /Chaudhary, Ex Chairman, Bharat Krishak Samaj; Sanjay Nath Singh, Working President, All India Farmers Association) released the Seminar Souvenir as also felicitated farmer / academic leaders for outstanding contribution to Agriculture and Agrochemicals industry.

The Secretary, Rao shared PM’s call to reduce use toxic chemicals pesticides / fertilizers. He also stressed that there is an urgent need to start using Pesticides, Fertilizers and other Agro-inputs in general – in a Safe and Judicious manner. Talking about Data Protection, the Secretary urged the industry, farmers and other stakeholders to unanimously prepare recommendations for the Govt. He also shared that India is loosing huge amount of food production during pre and post-harvest stages due to pest attack.

Dr Khandal spoke about the current trends in agriculture and also shared Key growth drivers for sustainable agriculture.

Chaudhary apprised the participants about chemical lacing of bio-pesticides and requested the government to help find a solution to this problem. He also requested the industry to do more R&D towards green chemistry.

Agarwal stressed that the Indian farmers should get the best and latest in technology in the field in agriculture.

The Seminar was 2nd edition and was well received by all ~ 200 participants including farmers, industry, relevant students, etc.

Pesticides are recognized as an essential input for increasing agricultural production and preventing crop loss before and after harvesting. As per a TSMG report, it is estimated that annual crop losses could double without the use of crop protection products, hence, it is imperative to use pesticides judiciously as per the dosage prescribed. India has a very efficient mechanism for approval of pesticides to be used in the country through Central Insecticide board (CIB). Safe application technologies are important.