Sindh Agriculture Ministry efforts have virtually come to naught to dispose of the outdated pesticides, turned into toxic waste which had been stored in the department's godowns for the last 25 years following transfer of pesticide marketing from public sector to private sector.
The environmentalists have time and again pointed out to successive governments to destroy the pesticides stock, turned into poisonous waste, before it could create health hazard and pollute the atmosphere, but no action has been initiated till now.
The Netherlands government, following apprehension expressed by environmentalists, extended help to Pakistan for disposing of the toxic waste and also acquired the services of a German firm specialising in disposing of toxic waste. The firm's representative visited Pakistan and documented the entire stock of pesticides both in Punjab and Sindh, and suggested various measures.
Punjab successfully disposed of major portion of its stock by sending it to Netherlands to destroyed through high power incinerators but Sindh agriculture department failed to get clearance from provincial finance ministry to write off the stock and send it to Netherlands for incineration.
Recently, the Agriculture department disposed of 0.1 million kg of obsolete pesticide by dumping it in open near village Choondko in the proximity of desert area endangering the life of desert folks and their animals.
This waste was disposed of following High Court decision on application filed by a resident of Madina Colony Khairpur that the toxic waste was posing serious threat to health of resident of the area.
Agriculture authorities often parried the question.
Business Recorder learnt that annual consumption of pesticides has increased to 70,000 tons, yet there is no reduction in the damage caused by pests. According to cotton crop experts the quantity of cotton destroyed by pests has gone up to 3.5 million bales from only 0.25 million bales during past five years, while the expenditure incurred on pesticides, direct and indirect, had been over Rs 18 billion. The benefit accruing therefrom amounted to only Rs 8 billion.
Plant Protection Directorate of Sindh Agriculture Extension is supposed to check marketing of spurious and substandard pesticides, but has virtually been cornered following devolution of Extension services, and now most of the work has been assigned to Director Co-ordination and Director Agriculture Upper Sindh with the result that marketing of substandard pesticides is continuing, causing irreparable damage to the ecological system, giving rise to widespread morbidity among farmers and contaminated water.The Rs 6 million campaign launched by the outgoing Sindh Chief Minister through the extension Information Directorate to create awareness among farming community has also proved as exercise in futility as it had meagre or no positive impact.