Sir I got a msg which is against SMJ from one of my frnd, I know it is not correct but I thought it is good to bring it to your notice.....,  plz don't get disappointed and give energy to those who are behind this...., the mail says that SMJ is working in favour of particular religion
 

Mr. Amir Khan’s program “Satyamev Jayate” on pesticides telecasted on 24th June 2012 was very biased and the entire expert forum in the program was unbalanced.  There were 10 NGOs, high intellectual experts and Doctors in the forum who were against the use of pesticides whereas only one representative from Pesticide Industry was called.  Mr. Amir Khan could have invited an Expert from Central Insecticides Board & Registration Committee (Govt. of India), the regulatory body for pesticides in India; Scientists from Premier Scientific Research Institutes like Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).  Even the audience present, lacked any knowledge on pesticides. 
 
To have wide impact and attention of mass, the show was conducted against the use of pesticides in a biased manner without much research done. But the fact remains, in the Second World War in Burma and South East Asia millions of soldiers’ and peoples’ life were saved from Malaria due to use of DDT. In India also DDT & Benzene Hexa chloride (BHC) were widely use to fight Malaria and had saved lives of millions of Indians. Both these pesticides are banned in India more than 20 years ago, due to its persistence & availability of better Pesticides. Exactly similar to banning of old medicines as the better new medicines get available.
 
The suicides of farmers are not due to costs of pesticides but due to failure of crops because of lack of water & non-use of Pesticides.
 
India is second biggest country in the world in value of agricultural production with a value of 210 billion dollars.  We have less agricultural area per person than before, our lands have degraded, more are quitting farming, shortage of labour & water, climate change affects agriculture… we hear all this in the media.  How come we now produce record levels of food grains, fruits and vegetables than before and feed 1.2 billion Indians? In old time we had to beg & import grains from US under PL-480 to feed much lower population.
 
How we export record quantity of Tea, Chilies, Fruits, Vegetables, Food grains to USA & EU, are they not checking pesticide residues in our exports? Why do we ignore technological progress and paint a panic picture to go back to bullock cart farming.
 
The pesticide consumption in India is one of the lowest in the world with 0.48 kg/ha whereas average world consumption is around 3 kg to 5 kg/ha. In some of the countries like Japan the pesticide consumption is 10.7 kg/ha.  If vegetable, fruits and food grains produced in India are having pesticides residues, then all our export consignments of grapes, vegetables and food grains should be rejected by the importing countries.
 
According to the Standing Committee Report of Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Govt. of India, annual crop losses in India due to pests and diseases is worth Rs. 90,000 crores, which could be saved by judicious use of Pesticides.
 
Today we are self sufficient in food production only because of the use of pesticides, fertilizers and quality seeds.  As far as organic farming is concerned, please note there is no regulatory body as of today and organic farming cannot feed the fast growing world population due to lower yield & quality of the produce.
 
Please remember the great EU outbreak of E coli contaminations of Organic Lettuce in 2011, which killed 37 people. There are many more outbreaks similar to this. Check the below links.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/w...
 
Due to the unbalanced forum of experts in Satyamev Jayate program, the entire show was biased and the outcome was pre decided, so the Pesticide Industry do not accept the contents of the same.  Those who are interested to have further information, please write to us on the address mentioned below.
 

We have been practicing 'Natural Farming' for 25 years whose pioneer was a japanist called Masanabu Fukuoka,In this farming we do not till,neither we put fertilizers nor any pesticides. The production is more than the scientific chemical prone farming in quantity as well in quality. Many modern farmers, scientists of chemical farming,volunteers visit our farm.

There is natural pest control in our farm because ecological cycle is never being disturbed, birds come and eat worms,our neighborhood farms too get benefited. Our farm has full many birds because we have better shelter and chemical free environment .
In our area soabeen and other crops are being affected by pests. Many chemical prone farmers can not grow sayabeen even highly poisonous insecticides fail to control pests.These pests grow  in large number and become nuisance. They fall from ceiling in their houses, there are heaps of them here n there. Today 70% farmers have stopped growing soyabeen.

In chemical prone farming the rice fields in our area have become a great pollutant of all the water resources, the highly
poisonous chemicals they put in their farms kill the ecology by killing fish, frogs etc. There is a flood of dead fishes and frogs in the rivets, canals when they cultivate rice.

 Hats of Sri.Raju Titus ji....I like your true and short story. Company chelaas talk big because they are bribed....so dont comment to their nasty questions and comments and watse your energy...let they speak hours to gather without ground reality and facts.  We are proud we are doing good and serving our nation.
Jai hoo apkooo...

 Excellent and logical response to the very poorly researched episode. Congratulations to the PMFAI for showing things in their proper light! I hope Aamir Khan makes amends and puts the issue in proper perspective during the course of future episodes of the TV Show.

amazing post... NGOs are taking amir khan for a ride...

Smit, what is your profession? I mean, are you a farmer?

smit ji this is right place for raising voice  against farmer harassement by saying POISON IN PLATE ,devoiding all needs and necessity of farmer. YAHAN USKI CROP KI SALE KA SEASON AATA HAI TO MANDA(low rate) AA JATA HAI.  AUR JAB CROP  KA SALE HO JAATA HAI .TAB BHAV BADH JATE HAIN. than for what JAI KISAN .  WHY NOT JAI  MERCHANTS. WHO DONATE POLITICAL PARTY FUND,  

 I unable to see the address in your comments for further information on pesticide and its usage. Thanks...

Dear Aamir and SJ team, 

I am an Indian single woman based in Melbourne and saw your episodes for the first time on 23rd June. And I have not stopped since yesterday. I have watched all the seven available episodes in one day, as today is 24th June. I am awestruck at the courage, time and research your team has taken to present such a crisp, easy to understand, well presented and informative program. Equally inspiring are the solutions being discussed which are simple but if implemented would be ground breaking. The example of human cases shown to support the problems and  underlying psyche are of excellent quality and provide depth to your show. My most memorable episode is of child abuse and it hit me because I have undergone that too. I am still to openly discuss it with my family as it happened almost 30 years ago. I am now 34. Because the perpetrator in my case went out of India soon after it started, I had little memory of that till I saw him again 3 years back. My brain had perhaps chosen to protect me by obliterating that incident for almost 25 years. But I am hoping to make my very loving parents about it soon after seeing your show and the workshop at the end of that episode.

I understand that selection of topics must be very carefully decided, and I am not sure what factors go into it. Having come to Australia three years back to try and find a better life, I have been saddenned by the unreal image of life here that other Indians living abroad have spread to their relatives back home. I am sure many Indians who chase dreams of a golden life abroad do not actually meet success !! Is there a scope in any of your episodes to touch upon this? Because I feel, this unnecessary leads to waste of many lives, resources, time for many due to poor advise of relatives, so called friends and migration agents. I feel the public image in India on this issue needs to be broadened and corrected and they need to understand why many Masters level students who come to such countries end up as taxi drivers even after 10-15 years of living here. 

Dear Dreamtonite

Not sure about anyone else but I am with you for disclosing and sharing the trauma incident of your childhood with your parents. Please do prepare yourself for a plausibility of resistance though.If you have to think too much about it, allow yourself to jot down in the form of a letter. Additionally show them the episode before sharing the incident.Does not matter what the outcome may result into but you will be at peace with yourself - my humble opinion, so do yourself a favor and make this a priority.

For the second paragraph, we,  the NRI's, are partially responsible for creating the image of a unlimited wealth abroad whenever we visit home.Irrespective of the job profile, limited income or hardship abroad whenever we visit India, we show off so much while painting a rosy picture and that influences innocent people specifically budding minds, indirectly luring them to the same paradox of settling abroad and facing similar challenges. I have made this point of my life to educate people, who so ever asks me, about the hard truth about abroad without sugar coating anything. 

I still remember, back in 1998, there was a cop ahead of me in the line, from Punjab Police doing "Path" while waiting in the Visa line of US embassy. I do feel today that he was lucky to get rejected though, not sure if he still thinks the same way. Please dont take me wrong, if one has skills or would like to further educate him/herself with ample resources should always look for options but be sure to speak the truth with friends and family back home.My humble opinion and 2c.

I really hope Aamir and team can help this further

a "proud" fellow Indian
================

With my experience in the field of agriculture I would like to share some points with your team and audience on the issue of Pesticides, and this is what needs to be addressed to prevent us from this poison.
a)       Monoculture is the major reason for pest infestation, as monoculture leads to availability of a particular type of food in abundance to a particular pest, and hence epidemic form of infestation.
b)       Adulterated pesticides add to the woes. Pesticide sellers dilute pesticides in their backyards. The concentrations are lowered and become ineffective. Leading to development of resistance in pests and hence making a pesticide ineffective. This is what happened in case of ‘American Ball Worm’ in South-West Punjab.
c)       Pesticide companies and dealers keep professing to farmers to use more and more pesticides to kill the insect that ‘now’ (due to resistance) cannot be killed with pesticide. Hence, alarmingly high rates of organo-phosphates in soil and ground water. The main supplier of passengers on ‘Cancer Mail’.
d)       Only option for farmers is not to grow cotton in the region, making them financially week. Options, the alternative crops, but ‘American Ball Worm’ also needs food, so it attacks other crops (Sugarcane, brinjal, etc). So, more pesticides.
e)       The solution could have been ‘Integrated Pest Management’ if not organic. But no one preached that, because Companies do not want to do that as it will reduce their sales. Government officers are not in attendance in offices (I don’t know where they go after 9 AM until 5 PM). Agricultural Universities are understaffed and have same government office attitude. Farmer is illiterate and desperate to survive.
f)        Another problem that leads to monoculture is ‘Minimum Support Price’ (MSP), Government announces MSP for wheat and rice, but other crops like sesame, vegetables, etc. are not covered under this. Farmer can’t get right price of any of these crops or even sell it in market as there is no buyer or proper price, and hence it is not a right option to produce these crops to feed farmers family.
g)       Corruption in system also prevents subsidies (for organic farming, green houses, etc) from reaching farmers.
Solution for consumer is a co-operative vegetable production and sale in cities and villages through co-operative vends (The AMUL example), this will ensure good organic produce to our families and at lower cost, because you are getting rid of Middle Man.

 I strongly oppose the way Aamir, the so called
social reformer, has presented the effects of Pesticides..   The
celebrity has failed to present the holistic view …

Philosophically
saying, "Things are neither good nor bad, their use or misuse make them
so"

The things
have been projected in highly exaggerating manner without going into
technicalities..

Pesticide
producers are putting their soul whilst making the product besides complying to
basic approval process of pesticides which require pesticide to meet all
standards for safety  to human as well as
environment..

The groups
like UNIPHOS are corporates socially responsible corporates who do not require  to demonstrate their social responsibilities
towards society & environment..

 Strange it appears, Aamir, once upon a  time, an brand ambassador of Coco Cola is
advocating  harmful effects of pesticides…..
Hira Mahajan , Jammu

 I would like to add a few points that the pesticides which are being marketed are well tested by the R & D and all the pesticides are being tested and certified by the Center Insecticide Board, India. The percent of the main constituent (poison) is being regulated by BIS. In addition I am really surprised to hear the brutal facts said by farmers, i.e, they supply the so-called poison onto our plates whereas they have a safe food for their families. So isn't is sarcastic to salute the ALTRUISTIC farmers who form the backbone of this 65 year old Indian economy

P.S. I really admired your efforts in showing the world the ardent truth on the happenings in India. I was really moved by some of the stories, especially the stories of Rizwan, Manoj and Bubli have made my eyes wet. But this episode Sir, I believe its one-sided

 This is not "One sided" but is a holistic approach".jan hai to jahan hai." Indian economy going down and down due to unsustainable agriculture. Farmers are going out of farming due to loss. Many farmers committing suicide. Climate change,Global warming. Issue  of "jal,jangle or jameen." aam admi who is living in city is not aware about poison in food.

Today Episode was really nice.I am also having field in Maharashtra from onwards i will tell my papa to reduce the use of pesticide and will tell to other farmers in village to reduce the use of pesticide.

Salute to Amir Khan for his Tremendous Work out on the different issues. this issue was the one of them....
Please see this show ...and Share 

We are on the way of organic farming through "Green Planet Save the Mother Earth"If anyone is interested please contact below No.Satish Shukla78604276219369076505

reduce is a proper term.....gr8                     .but not stop using pesticide ......

 Most important thing that why pests are coming in field. Pests means disease. Disease comes due to weakens.Weak crops grow in weak soil. Weakness of soil is directly related with soil erosion. Erosion of soil is directly related with tilling. Half of the strength go down by single tilling.Nearly 10 ton soil erode every year from one acre of land. Soil is a group of organism(fertility). If we grow without tilling strength of soil regain and soil become healthy than no problem of disease and no need of pesticide.

Use pesticides which are good and there and natural ways  to do but it is not an easy road. 

Use what is good for everyone not for your pesticide dealer.

Dear Amir,
I have seen all the episodes of Satyamev Jayte and I have noticed one thing which is consistent in every episode. And that is  the fact that the solution to all our problems exists in our own country. They just need to be seen.
 Through this show you are pointing people in the right direction making them aware of the problems and their solutions making it much easier for them to comprehend and even follow.
Although I think inspite of your huge efforts this show is not reaching enough people (atleast the people who can relate to the specific issue a particular episode is about) For example: the message of the episode "Toxic Food" MUST reach as many farmers as possible especially in remote areas where people do not have internet, cable TV, DTH etc. Not to mention the frequent power-cuts. A lot of people in such areas do have radios but then again not everyone may be listening to it. Even if they are, I still believe that the radio may not have that much impact unless people could see the actual show. As you have said "Jab dil pe lagegi tabhi baat banegi" and I really believe that "Dil pe tabhi lagegi jab aankhon aur kaano se baat andar jayegi" I think the video version of this show will have a much better impact.
That being said, my question: Is it possible to go one more step ahead and have some sort of service/system so that your show can reach such areas. I have a really old fashioned idea in my mind but who knows it might still work. The idea is simple and may not be really expensive if kept simple. The idea is to have a compendium of Satyamev Jayte's episodes on a DvD or any similar media and then have them projected on canvas screen in villages. Just the way cinemas went in old days and even today. You could have people who may be willing to volunteer for such tasks, people who could screen Satyamev Jayte episodes in Panchayats and other such similar meetings.
I got this idea when I was watching the film 'Swades' and it has a scene where 'Yaadon ki baaraat' is being played for the villagers. So thanks to Ashutosh Gowarikar for this idea!

My Dear fellow Indian Gaurav Mehra

Citizens like you are the stars of our nation and efforts like this will finally lead us to the pinnacle of the world one day!!

Not sure if I am allowed to say that in official channel, since this is for a great cause let me dare to mention the alternate but requires little effort from your end. I will not spell out the solution but give you ample hint:-
- google youtube video download utility (free version)
- google vdeo conversion utility for changing the format (free version)
- google DVD burning software (free version example img burn)

Sorry Aamir and SMJ Team, hope you can save the trouble to this guy for a great cause, the cause you started. I know you wont mind the solution above but Star TV/Investors may not like it but I could not resist since it's for a bigger cause.

Hope this helps though and please do NOT censor this

with dep sense of gratitude for making SMJ happen - as ALWAYS

I am a NRI based in UK. Apart from every episode bringing tears, it also has a profound effect on the way I think, and I am sure many other fellow Indians and persons of Indian origin will have similar  effect.Now for the important part, for anyone who is interested in Organic Farming. Recently I have been travelling in India, and happened to discover that a close friend who works in Bio-tech field has a biological culture, which when sprayed in diluted form on plants and base stem, helps not only in eliminating pests but also enhances growth. This is completely chemical free and is very easy and cheap to make. 
We are looking for farmers where we can start a field trial for this Miracle Plant tonic. Anyone ?

Hello Mr Das 
Please tell me about all these techniques which is used in Organing farming, so can tell the local farmers too and they will be healthy and provide good food to society.

We deal into organic product ..which is at par with standards of organic liquid  useful for organic farming in Usa..Please contact me on nitesh1982@gmail.com for more info.We would happy as a part of Corporate social responsibility offer products at very discounted pries.

Dear Amir,
The Fundamental Problem of Contamination of all natural resoures with chemical Pesticide residues because of faulty and hazardous agricultural technologies at the farming level is often ignored without solving the basic problem,no amount of standard setting at the consumption level is going to solve the  Problem,especially in a country like INDIA where enforcement of regulations is notoriously weak or even absent.
Rajeev Sethi.KHANDWA 9425085581

Dear Amir/ Rajeev,

Organic farming is the best way to go ahead and was and will be always. But production level and efforts to get that production fron organic farming are many times. Farming is a tough job and is a business also for the farmer and expecting that he will reduce pesticide just because there are environmental problem may be like asking  for too much. A farmer whose sole objective is to maximise yield will do any thing for that and it is justified !!. Use of pesiticide is not good but it is a necessary evil. But what is not covered in any of the discussions on any of the forums is the application technologies employeed today to spray chemicals, just to save time by the farmers. We have been working for last about 8 years in different parts of the country to educate the farmers about the proper use of chemicals and talk about hing and points like DRIFT, RUNOFF, OVERDOSE, PROPER APPLICATION METHODS AND HANGING THE METHODS OF USING CHEMICALS. but the response is very low from all corners since this needs a regulatory aspect. DRIFT of chemicals to nearby areas is one of thebiggest issue that can be solved very easily by empolyeeing tehnology but nobody seems to be thinking on all those points. The cancer yrain that is from Punjab is not because of the chemicals alone as had it been due to hemicals in food that food is eaten by all country, it is because of the  bad technology employeed and harms . Has any body from the goverment departments ever cared to inspect the millions of equipment used to spray hemicals . This is as vital as the amunition guns that take the life of people but sprayers of poor quality are being sold like anything and mostly imported cheaply.

Lets talk more about this subject that conerns everybody today and will grow for tomorrow.        

Can any one give me a  List of organisation or trust in gujarat that help to the farmer for used  organic farming techniques?

Dear Amir, 
Thanks for taking up the sensitive issue related to farmers. Being a farmer, i disagree with the people who are blindly talking of only organic farming. Farming is to be taken up in a very scientific manner. Farmers are very illiterate when it comes to precise farming. Farmers themselves are dependent on the fertilizers and pesticides dealers from whom they buy the inputs like seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, tools, based on their experience each and every dealer try his maximum to educate them but the end use of every input cannot be controlled by the sellers. So it is very important to educate farmers regarding the use of seeds, inorganic pesticides and fertilizers, as merely use of organic inputs is not going give him desirable yields and it is not feasible and economically viable for him because of initial low yield levels. So it is advisable for farmers to follow integrated farming which means balanced use of organic and inorganic inputs and practices.Till date government has emphasized the promote organic farming but due to lack of research and development, experts, no one can assure targeted yields through organic farming. Use of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides is not as sin, but those to be used very intricately, where our farmers lack the knowledge.Once they get adequate knowledge of integrated farming, they can easily practise organic farming. Merely blaming inorganic farming as "poison in your plate" will never help farmers to prosper through farming and citizens of India to meet their daily food requirements.So don't blame inorganic farming as "POISON", instead take up the issue of educating farmers, how they can be trained to practise integrated farming to achieve desired yield levels and prosper by doing farming. 
Simply it can be stated as given below-
1. Know crops' nutrition requirement, this is only possible if government makes it mandatory to carry out soil and water analysis mandatory( number of farmers do this but not all), which will give fair idea about crop's nutrition requirement, thereby experts can advise farmers what amount of organic manures and inorganic fertilizers to be applied to the crop ie called balanced nutrition.If any crop gets balanced nutrition, it will grow healthy to develop immunity and resistance against pests and diseases, this will result in minimal use of inorganic pesticides, at this organic pesticides will play important role, certainly this will lead to healthy food.

2. So take up issue of educating the farmers to practise integrated farming not merely organic farming.People from all over world know importance of organic farming and organic food, but till date not a single country has met the demand of organic food. 
3. This issue "POISON FOOD" will merely result in the debate but not in actual field work which is most important for the Indian farmers, comments of the urban people and few experts is not going to solve the problems of Indian farmers

So dear Amir, it is my sincere request to you to take up the farmers issues, in such a way that, it will always help farmers and not blame them for doing the few wrong practices unintentionally. A true farmer will always wish better health of people for whom he has been working hard since ages. 
Please do not take it either way.As an agriculture graduate and my fellow agricos will always support you if work for the betterment of farmers, you just take initiative, all of us will be with you.
Cheers
Hemant Kapse
hmkapase@yahoo.co.in

Agriculture graduates are more responsible for natural food.It is their duty to remove poison from common man's plate and educate farmers.Ameer khan simply raising issue.He proved that there is poison in plate and many disease spreading due to this. Agriculture scientist are responsible for this.

The California Spinach outbreak Mr. Shroff reported about is not because of Organic spinach. It is about packaging of the fresh cut spinch - organic or non-organic. It is because the any type of spinach when fresh-cut need to be preserved properly for it to not have the E-Coli. The packaging caused it not be preserved as such and developed E-Coli and so the government banned it. Can someone educate Mr. Shroff, please? http://www.fda.gov/NewsEven...

We in high-tech hub of Bay area, (near San Jose), California, eat as much Organic food as much is possible - including - the Cow's milk - that is fresh - and is lightly pasturized and DOES NOT come in plastic - but in glass bottles. I fail to understand how could indians agree on letting go the fresh milk system and milkmen and agree to buy pasturized - homogenized milk in plastic bags!

Most californians in bay area grow veggies, buy food from farmer's market and know the farmers who sell these organic food. Sounds surprising? Thats what we do in California. So please, if you want to copy west, copy what is good. Not what makes money by destruction. We lead life very much out of fashion but down to earth, and close to nature. 

I would like to not generalize - and would like to correct - most californians, in saratoga, bay area, instead of all of bay area in above comment.

Dear Mr. Amir
Khan,

Congratulations
for televising such a meaningful program taking up most burning national
issues for creating awareness among public, experts and the policy makers of
India. I am a retired Professor and Head from Haryana Agricultural
University, Hisar and
have about 35 years of experience in the field of PESTICIDE RESIDUES in
environment, food commodities including animal and human milk both, and milk
products, soil, water etc.

The
episode on “Pest Management without Pesticides” in the form of organic
agriculture,  has sent a message that
Pesticides are our enemies and have been responsible for contaminating our
environment, food commodities and have lead to deformities in human beings
besides causing cancer. The organic agriculture was advocated to be a viable
alternative. But I found few exaggerations and unfounded and biased opinions
which I want to bring to your notice as noted below:

Presence
of endosulfan/chlorpyriphos residues in breast milk 800 times above safe limit
(MRL Value) and intake of one pesticide above its ADI value are alarming for
general public. But this is not the factual position. Sporadic values obtained
in one or two samples can’t be made basis for general conclusions. The residue
method followed for such studies has to be authentic and residues detected are
to be confirmed by GCMS technique. I do not doubt integrity of the scientists,
who gave these statements during your program, but according to our own
extensive studies with human milk sponsored by ICAR, we did find that there are
pesticide residues in human milk but they were very rarely above the safe
limits (MRL Value). The data and observations provided in the episode are non
representative of the studies and findings generated at 18 centres of All India
Coordinated Research Project on Pesticide Residues, financed by ICAR, New Delhi since 1984. We
have huge volumes of residue data generated under this project.

Dr. Kabra
from Jaipur did not have any information as to how much pesticide or which
pesticide was present in the deformed brain / adipose tissue of the deformed
persons. No such visible human deformity related to pesticides has ever been
reported in the history of pesticides. Some genetic reasons need to be
investigated in such cases.

Pesticides
in excess are harmful, there is no doubt about that but there is nothing whose
excess is not harmful. Overuse of even life saving drugs can kill. But in right
dosage, pesticides do effectively achieve what they are meant for i.e. control
pests. The problem arises not from use of pesticides but from their improper
use in terms of using more than recommended dosage and not waiting long enough
after applying pesticides before bringing the crops to the market. If these 2
recommendations are followed, harmful effect of pesticides on humans, animals
and environment can be greatly reduced.

The episode
would have been more effective, had you called Residue Experts of India like Dr.
S.K Handa, Retd. Project Coordinator (Pesticide Residues), Dr K.K. Sharma,
Present Coordinator or Dr Gita Kulshreshtha, Dr A.K Dixit, both Former Head Division
Agri. Chemicals, IARI, New Delhi and crop scientists
from ICAR, New Delhi
who have rich experience in the field of pesticides and have seen organic
agriculture cultivation. Likewise a medical oncologist from AIIMS would have
been better expert.

In my own
opinion, Organic Agriculture is welcome but its adoption at countrywide is not
so easily feasible because of soil fertility/productivity requirements and the
inability of non pesticide approaches to combat pest problems of high yielding
crops. Bringing organic agriculture without fully understanding it may mean
inviting the era of early sixties when India was on the verge of
starvation because of shortage of food production. Every drug is toxic but the
dose makes it so. Same is true for pesticides. We need to ensure following of
Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) which involve judicious use of pesticides
along with other non-pesticide approaches which all come under the umbrella of
Integrated Pest Management (IPM). This will ensure high production of quality
food and safety to environment, users as well as consumers.

Dr. T.S.
Kathpal

Retd.
Professor and Head

CCS HAU,
Hisar, Haryana

NATURAL BALANCE BETWEEN PEST AND PREDATORS IS PRESENT IN NATURE. SNAKE EATS FROG, FROG EATS INSECTS, INSECT EATS VIRUSES AND SO ON. ORGANIC (NATURAL) WAYS OF AGRICULTURE IS FOR MAINTAIN ECOSYSTEM . THERE IS CHANCE FOR EVERY ONE TO LIVE. "JIO OR JEENE DO". I AM KEEPING NATURAL BALANCE IN MY FIELD BY DOING NATURAL WAY OF FARMING SINCE LAST 25 YEARS  I NEVER FACED PEST PROBLEM IN MY FARM.
BUT NEAR BY MY FARM FARMERS THOSE ARE DOING SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE ARE FACING ACUTE PEST PROBLEM. LAST YEAR AFTER USING MANY PESTICIDES SOYBEAN CROP WAS COMPLETELY FAILED.FARMERS WERE UNABLE TO HARVEST EVEN 20 KG PER ACRE. SOME FARMERS WERE ABLE TO GET SOME OUT PUT THOSE NOT USED PESTICIDE BIRDS HELPED THEM.GENERALLY BIRDS GO AWAY DUE TO SMELL OF PESTICIDE.

Dear Amir,
       Last Episode of yours was highly biased and prejudiced. If you wanted an unbiased debate then you should have called more representatives from Pesticide India. You have called only Mr. Shroff and 9 NGOs against him. Then you should have also called experts from the field of Agriculture (Profs in Agri Universities), there is a place called Jalgaon in Maharashtra and one university named North Maharashtra University is there, you will find BSc and MSc classes in Pesticides and Agrochemicals, you should have invited the faculties. They could have given a proper insight.
  I'm a Safety professional working in an Agrochemical Industry, we have lot of employees handling concentrated Pesticides (not the formulations which are further diluted before spraying in fields) they are working for years, why nothing has happened to them???? Its because of the way in which it is handled. And if you go to the website of EPA (US Government) theyclearly tells that most of the Pesticides get disintegrated in soil (introduction of these kind of Pesticides are the reason why chemicals like DDT etc is banned).
 I know you may be thinking that I works with a Pesticide group and thats why I'm writing all these.... An effort to save my job... Pls dont think so... In India there is a scarcity of good safety professionals, so my job is safe...
    Back to our topic... Now mobile phones creates lot of radiation and can cause cancer and severe damage to the brain.... And infact it is more dangerous than the Pesticides, will you do a show on the ill effects of mobile phones ( I for a second is forgetting that you appear in the ads of samsung mobiles)????
  We all tell that we require Oxygen for our life, right... the oxygen that we take is later on infused into blood and then it is taken to brain through blood. Now this precious Oxygen if goes into our body while doing an injection can kill us instantaneously (thats the reason why doctors remove air in the syringe before injection). SInce there is a risk of death, will you make a show telling that we should ban injection???
 I'm not telling that Pesticides are safe and harmless.... They are poison.... Like mobile phones, like the injections we require them... See none of the NGOs who came there are farmers and yes about the farmer who does organic farming for self and Pesticide farming for market... Ask him this question, if organic farming is safe and cheaper, then why is he doing that only for his consumption??? He should have infact utilized that method for the crop that he grow to sell.... This would have earned him more profit....
 I urge you, I request you to do this show again, but in an unbiased and unprejudiced way....

 I am doing Natural Farming since last more than 25 years. I am not NGO.i am living in mid india in tawa comand area which known as mini Punjab. i am not tilling nor using any fertilizer, nor killing any weed and insect. Getting better productivity with quality. This method is developed by world famous agriculture scientist Mr Masnobu Fukuoka of Japan. His yield was also highest in the world.If you will go in search you will find all details.Ameerji is not a farmer,not a scientist still what he is showing is 100% correct.If Dr 's start saying truth like Fukuoka than easily we can get food in our plate without poison.

  At first I agree that He must have brought more agro/pesticide experts that may brought more validity to the discussion.

   But i don't agree that it's a biased programme .amir has n't told to ban pesticides rather to use it more judiciously.He also mentined if there is any alternative which will give equal results or atleast close to it we should welcome it.He also brought the awareness of horrible harms caused by pestisides to both farmers and society and environment.

Your argument is biased not amir programme.I think you are really not opening your eyes to see the side effects of the chemicals going into our environment.We are polluting everything for a profits and more yield and eating unhealthy and poisonous food every day.Its good you are working in agro compny that does not mean you need to support bad things.Companies introducing lot of chemicals into the market and poor and uneducated farmers without realising they are using them in high doses.Farmers are mould into this poisonous circle.Nothing wrong with the show.
  So please open you eyes

 This is not a matter of a business or the pesticide industry, we all know the harms of pesticide but not able to raise voice so we should thanks Amir for that, instead saying a biased program. I think if we start liking the organic food the pesticide India will be organic-side India.

There is no alternate to injections nor mobiles( if there is any, it will have a great impact on us. Life would be very difficult ), but there IS an alternative for pesticide, that's growing food organically (without having any impact on our lives). 

Mobiles can be replaced by land lines and for mobility we can have PCOs placed across our country... Infact till 1998 or so mobile phones were not at all present in India and all of us were well connected...There is a treatment systemd called Naturopathy.... If you read the book "Freedom at Midnight", Mahatma Gandhi refused permission to the the doctor for giving injection to Kasturba Gandhi, and insisted upon  naturopathy.... So infact injections are something which is rejected by  Father of our Nation.... There are alternatives Manjit.... But the thing is that if you try to tell people to abandon mobile phones or stop getting injections as a treatment method, people will laugh at you...

Hi... I forgot to mention one thing... Some body was mentioning about the growing organic farming abroad... For them.. We are exporting 70 to 80% of the products that we produce and also note that India is having the lowest per acre pesticde usage comparing to other countries.....

we all agree with harmful impact of pesticides but not to agree with attitute which u shown to rujju shroff, UPL is the first company who generate the employment in india after freedom. as britishers challenged india that india never can produce own phospates... see the mirracl within shorter time peroid. (collect that data also) shroff family had work hard and just see the complnies they made. if single unit will closed it have huge impact on emplyment.. agar aisi company nahi hoti to aj bharat ka har nav javan bekar betha hota kya sabko tumahari faltu bollywood industry employment deti?? kyu apne bollywood casting couch dekhavo..??? lakho log roj mumbai ate hai actress banane... use kaha paya jata hai?? roj mandi lagti hai bollywood me... emplyment de nahi sakte  to jo de raha hai use ungli bhi nai kar skte... pesticides sales and formulations sifr indian ka problem nahi hai... international politics bhi usme itna bhara pada hai....

Please try to comment or suggest. What will you gain if you try to point out something from aamir khan sir's personal life. I believe he is doing a very GOOD JOB. How many of us know about all these statistical values and information about all the issues discussed in all the episodes. Why do you think he spends time for all this (with his team in doing research about these issues trying to be a good Indian Citizen) instead he could go and spend time in doing one or two successful commercial movies?  Why not let a true INDIAN act like one...

Actually due to illiteracy of maximum of our farmers they are unable to to shift their pesticide based farming to organic farming. The only solution to this problem is that government should emphasize on organic farming. 

Robin Sachdeva
IIT Guwahati   

But govt is doing the opposite ..it is subsidizing chemical farming .. making even more difficult for organic farmers to compete .. the subsidies given to farmers should probably be given directly as cash .. rather than subsidizing fat chemical companies .. as is done now ..

जैव खेती को बढ़ावा देने के लिए सरकार द्वारा प्रयत्न करने की आवश्यकता है | कीटनाशक कंपनी के मालक श्राफ जो एपिसोड में बोले, १०० प्रतिशत अप्रमाणिक थे | अपनी कंपनी का टर्न ओव्हर बचाने के लिए, उनको गलत बोलना पडा, उनकी आगतिकता हम समज सकते है | यह उनके, बार-बार पानी पिने से ही पता चल रहा था, ओर इसे सारा भारत देख रहा था | जैवखेती यह आज भारत के उन्नति के लिये एक अवसर है | बिना कीटनाशकोंके सबसे अच्छी खेती की जा सकती है | हमारे गाव कस्बों में रहनेवाले किसानो को जैवखेती सम्बन्धी खूबसारी जानकारी है, जो इकट्टा करने आवश्यकता है | मै एक शिक्षक हू, मैंने मावा इस रोग के किटोंको भगाने या खा जाने वाली मित्रकीड़ी की पहचान की है | जो किसी भी महंगे से महंगे कीटनाशकों से ज्यादा कारगर है | मावा यह कीड़ी फसलों के फूलों पर आती है, ओर उपज को बुरी तरह प्रभावित  करती है | इस मित्रकीड़ी के अंडीपुंज को इकट्टा करने की, तकनीक में संशोधन करने आवश्यकता है | बाद में इन अंडीपुंज को आसानी से जैवकीटनाशक के रूप में इस्तेमाल किया जा सकता है |

Hello,

It was disappointing to see that CEO of a largest pesticide selling company is denying bad effect of pesticide. He can do so because he knows that laws and constitution of this country can't punish him or he knows how to escape it. Shame... I can't imagine how can this OLD man face himself. Anyway, money has defeated his self consciousness. 

But there must be a strict legislation to prevent the side effect of pesticide.

regards,

Vinod

That old man is a Scientist. It is astonishing that how people praise those scientists who make nuke weapons (Dr. Kalam) and not those who try to bring equality in food distribution..so that food is not concentrated in the hands of the rich!
And it is not his mistake that farmers are abusing the use of chemicals on plants.
And controlled use of pesticides is not bad for health. Chemicals are everywhere and you just can't avoid them!

THE MYTH AND TRUTH
ABOUT ORGANIC FARMING

Dear All,

As a concerned son of the soil, I submit this important
discussion on organic farming to the general public in India to take
necessary steps to save the country from manmade disaster. India’s food
security remains critical and getting worse each day. India already
has the largest number of malnourished people especially children, who are the
future of the country.

Promotion of organic farming in India
is one among the serious negative forces that is in play to derail India’s
agriculture development and which is dangerously spreading like cancer through
mass hysteria, as an impediment to the welfare of Indian people.

Strangely enough, the promotion is undertaken not by
scientists of any repute, but an exclusive group of do-gooders .Knowingly or
unknowingly, they are helping some foreign hand who does not like to see India
developing into a world power but intend on bringing the country to its knees
by starving its people. This approach is understood to be more lethal than the
use of atomic bombs.

Although a small and insignificant percent of the population
in the developed world prefer the more expensive organic food as a personal
choice and willing to pay for it, no country in the world officially promotes organic
farming as they do in the rudderless Indian agriculture scene.

The following scientific, economic and ecological reasons
against the case of organic farming are presented below for creating the much
needed awareness among the concerned intelligentsia of the country and for
initiating a national discussion on this important topic.

      Organic farming
is universally recognized to reduce crop productivity per acre for the farmers
and to increase food cost to the consumers.

      Plant needs 12
mineral nutrients, all of which are also essential in human nutrition.

      Plants cannot
eat food like humans, but they absorb the food through their roots from the
soil in solution form.

       Nutrients in
organic form need to be converted to inorganic forms by soil bacteria to make
them available to plants.

       Bacterial
activity in the soil depends on factors other than plant requirements.
Therefore, organically supplied nutrients are not available to plants during
specific time of need of individual nutrients to the growing plant.

        The
concentration of plant nutrients are so low in organic manure, all organic
matter available in the world, according to Prof. Norman Borlaug, the Father of
the Green Revolution and a Nobel Laureate, will not provide enough plant
nutrients needed for the crops to feed the world.

        Concentrations
of the 12 plant nutrients in organic matter are so low, reduced crop
productivity and farm incomes will seriously hurt the economics of the farmer.

       Unit cost of produce
in Indian agriculture will escalate, acting as hindrance to trading in global
markets.

        All nutrients
from organic sources will only increase farm input costs by several folds
compared to the more concentrated and pure inorganic food or fertilizers.

        Because of the
abysmal low fertility of Indian soils which causes crop productivity that is
one among the lowest in the world, the badly needed soil fertility build up for
higher crop productivity cannot be achieved through organic farming, taking the
farmers and the country down the road to disaster.

        Minerals in
human nutrition come from vegetables and fruits and plants grown on low fertile
soils produce nutritionally sub-standard vegetables and fruits with low shelf
lives, endangering human health. E-coli related diseases can also spread.

    Organic manure can
also be a source of heavy metals like zinc, which when enter the human food
chain, accumulate in the bones causing certain lethal diseases.

     For the farmers
of India
who are already in the cruel grip of low crop productivity and farm income,
organic farming will result in greater and sustainable poverty.

     Organic manures
sourced from Indian cows are loaded with weed seeds which will increase input
costs to the farmer due to increased weeding operations.

      Many flies and
insects use cow manure to lay their eggs, which then develop into larval worms
or maggots in the soil, damaging plant roots and plant stands, causing crop
production losses to the farmer.

      According to the
famous environmentalist, Roger Moore the founder of Green Peace, the name
“organic farming” is a misnomer, and it should be called “primitive farming”
and primitive farming, according to him, will not feed the world population.

      Due to its low
crop productivity, it is well recognized that organic farming is one of the
causes of deforestation in poor countries, leading not only to global warming
but also to drastic changes in bio-diversity.

Therefore, it is very important that the people behind the
promotion of organic farming in India
carefully weigh these negative impacts on food security of the country,
economics of the farmer, environment and the overall welfare of the people of India, before
they continue their pilgrimage for the cause of organic farming and need to be
accountable for their acts. A national forum of policy makers including
international agriculture scientists and experts needs to be convened to
discuss the pros and cons as well as the suitability of organic farming for
India, a topic of utmost importance not only to the well being of the people of
India but also to their posterity.

India
has the largest population in the world suffering from mal-nutrition and under
nutrition. These especially during the formative stages of childhood, result in
irreversible damage to physical and mental capabilities throught their life.
The economically weaker sections of the population with lower intake of food,
suffer most from reduced physical and mental development. Unfortunately, these
sections of the population have the highest birth rate and consequently, in the
long run, the percentage of the less productive people over take all other
groups, potentially leading great national calamity.

Most of the 12 or more plant nutrients essential for
economic crop production are either lacking (with the possible exception of
nitrogen), or present in very low amounts in materials used in organic farming.
In the case of India,
even to sustain crop productivity at current levels through organic farming,
the cattle population of the country needs to be increased by at least 50 per
cent. But if any improvement in food productivity needs to be achieved through
organic farming, the cattle population needs to be doubled or even tripled. The
burden of feeding such an increased cattle population will create incalculable
stress on land, water and other resources, which India can least afford. Even
if all human feacal materials are also harnessed as manure, the problem will
only compound.

A word of caution here will be in order. In developing an
agronomic and economically sustainable agriculture production system,
commercial fertilizers, which are nothing but non-toxic readily available plant
food (distinct from toxic pest control chemicals), play a prominent role. The
so called "organic farming" is economically, hygienically and
nutritionally less desirable than conventional farming using fertilizers.
Organic sources of farming materials, however, have a useful role to play as a
soil amendment.

If you really think you want to see India hunger
free, as we are moving towards number one country for under Nourished children
in the globe we have to give attention to agriculture. Unfortunately
agriculture is a lowly occupation in this country though we all say India is
agriculture country. Unless & until we solve this major issue whatever we
say or do a seminar is meaningless.

I CONCLUDE WITH THIS

AnnamBahuKurvita, tat vratam.

  
…..tasmatyayaakayaacha

                                   
Vidhayaabahv annumpraapnuyaat……

              We
should produce abundant food; let that be the vow….we should therefore produce
abundant food by whatever means possible.

                                         _
Taittiriya Upanishad

Cheers!

Rajaram Madhavan

Madhur80@hotmail.com

July 2012