The government will permit exports of pesticides that are banned for sales in the domestic market on a case to case basis, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Thursday.
Addressing a webinar organised by industry body FICCI and Dhanuka Agritech on agro-chemicals, Tomar said the agriculture ministry will give "permission for exports on a case-to-case basis". He said the ministry will double the timeline to submit suggestions by stakeholders on its draft order dated May 14 that proposes to ban 27 pesticides.
The ban will be effective from the date of final notification.
The ministry has sought suggestions from the various stakeholders within 45 days. The use of 27 insecticides are likely to involve risk to human being and animals, the order said.
A senior agriculture ministry official said that notification for extending the time for inviting comments to 90 days will be issued soon.
On the Pesticides Management Bill, which has been introduced in Parliament, the minister said the government has made provisions of penalty and imprisonment in the proposed law to check manufacturing and sales of spurious products that can have an adverse impact on crops.
However, he asked the industry to send their suggestions if this objective could be achieved without such provisions.
The minister stressed on the need to increase expenditure on research and development in the agro-chemical sector by both the government and private players.
Highlighting the achievement in the Indian agriculture sector, Tomar said the country has harvested bumper rabi crops and witnessed sharp rise in the sowing of kharif crops despite the nationwide lockdown to control coronavirus disease. He expressed confidence that farm sector GDP will grow.
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