Pesticide Shortage Seen

Pesticide manufacturers have warned against an imminent shortage of plant protection chemicals in the ensuing kharif season due to high excise duty-induced production cuts by the industry.

Pesticides Manufacturers and Formulators Association president P P Dave said formulators were not lifting technical grade material for producing pesticides due to a dispute over excise duty.

The effect of the present disruption in production would be felt in the form of paucity of plant protection chemicals between July and September during the main kharif season when they are needed the most.

Dave said the excise department was charging an excise duty of 18 per cent on technical grade and formulated pesticides against the budget stipulation of 8 per cent. This was being done on the basis of reclassification of technical grade pesticides into organic and inorganic chemicals with retrospective effect. This was hurting small manufacturers and formulators more than the MNCs, most of which were producing both technical grade material and formulations, Dave said. The Delhi High Court, where a case challenging this move is currently pending, had given a stay on the recovery of excise.

Pesticides formulators were, therefore, reluctant to lift technical grade material for conversion into usable pesticides in view of the uncertainty caused on this account.

Dave also sought to dispel the notion that the failure of the cotton crop in Andhra Pradesh, which led to a spate of suicides by farmers, was caused by spurious pesticides.

The cause of crop failure lay elsewhere, he maintained.

He said the crop could not be saved from pests like white fly and heliothis, because farmers used wrong pesticides, rather than spurious ones. Weather-related factors also contributed to the crop loss, he added.