Weedicide sold online despite ban in India

The sale of glyphosate is banned in the state, but the weedicide is being sold online.

Taking a note of the “illegal” sale and warning an e-tailer, Ajay Vir Jakhar, chairman, Punjab State Farmers’ and Farm Workers’ Commission, today tweeted, “Punjab banned sale & use of glyphosate in Punjab, India. You sell & deliver glyphosate in Punjab. Would you flout such a law in California or double standards permit disregard of rules in developing nations?”

Some farmers claimed that a few websites had removed it from their product list after the issue was brought to the notice of their executives.

In October last year, the state government had banned the weedicide after observing it to be the group 2A cancer-causing material. As per experts of PGIMER, Chandigarh, the chemical is also known for causing other health problems and has the potential to damage DNA.

In a letter sent to all Deputy Commissioners and Chief Agriculture Officers, Agriculture Secretary KS Pannu, while banning the weedicide, had stated, “The Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee (CIBRC) has recommended the use of this herbicide only for tea garden and non-cropped area. Therefore, there is a dire need for strict compliance of the existing label claim of herbicide-glyphosate as per the conditions of registration with the CIBRC under the Insecticide Act, 1968.”

In February 2019, the Kerala Government too had banned the use, sale and distribution of products with glyphosate content.