India Odisha government: Bans 11 Pesticide Companies

The India Odisha government on Wednesday banned 11 pesticide companies from selling their products in the state. The decision came exactly two weeks after a farmer committed suicide as spurious pesticides failed to protect his paddy crop from brown planthoppers.

Odisha agriculture secretary, Saurabh Garg, said of all the pesticide samples sent to laboratory for testing, those of 11 companies failed quality check. “We have issued a no-sale and show-cause notice to them. Action will be taken as per the Insecticides Act,” added Garg.

Union minister of state for agriculture, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who visited areas in Bargarh, Boudh and Sonepur districts affected by brown planthoppers earlier this week, said the pesticides many farmers had used actually helped proliferate the brown planthoppers.