Pesticide offtake edges up even as more farmers shun agrochemicals -Vishwanath Kulkarni and V Sajeev Kumar

-The Hindu Business Line

AP, Kerala, Punjab, TN, Rajasthan, M.P. and Chhattisgarh see a dip in consumption

After witnessing a slump in 2018-19, pesticide consumption registered a marginal growth in 2019-20. However, more States are reporting a decline in usage of agrochemicals on rising awareness of the harmful effects among both producers and consumers.

States such as Punjab, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Kerala reported a decline in usage of technical grade chemical pesticides during 2019-20, according to the provisional data released by the Agriculture Ministry.

However, major consuming States such as Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh saw a growth in usage as farmers continued to apply more chemicals to protect their crops from pests, diseases and control weeds amidst shortage of labour and rising costs.

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