SIT probe into farmers' death should cover all factors: CCFI

Pesticides industry body CCFI today said the Maharasthra government should ensure that SIT investigations into deaths of farmers in Yavatmal district are more scientific and look into all etiological factors.
The state government had recently appointed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe deaths of cotton farmers allegedly due to pesticides.
The Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI) said in a representation to the government that the terms of references (ToR) assigned to the SIT are "narrow" and confined to the use of pesticides and do not cover all possible etiological factors.
"The investigations by the members of the SIT need to be scientific and evidence based regarding the etiology of the alleged deaths," CCFI President Rajju Shroff said in a letter written to the Maharasthra Agriculture Minister.

Recently, 21 farmers from Yavatmal died allegedly after inhaling pesticides while spraying them in their cotton fields. Last month, in a separate incident, seven farmers in Solapur district were hospitalised as they complained of uneasiness after coming in contact with chemicals used in vineyards.
Stating the CCFI certainly shares the public concern about the loss of lives of farmers, Shroff said "But this does not warrant a priori assumption that exposure to pesticide spray drift caused the death. There are strong scientific reasons against such a priori assumption."

There was no causal link between exposure to spray drift of pesticides, if any, and the deaths reported from Yavatmal district, he said.

CCFI also demanded the state government to widen the ToR and include an expert member from the CCFI in the SIT to facilitate a science-based investigation.
Meanwhile, the Union Agriculture Ministry has asked Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to study the matter and submit a report at the earliest.