New Delhi: The next time you happen to pass by a sugarcane field, ask yourself how difficult it f might be to spray pesticides to maximum effect there.
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Business Ethics
CASE STUDY (20 Marks)
New Delhi: The next time you happen to
pass by a sugarcane field, ask yourself how difficult it f might be to spray
pesticides to maximum effect there. It would be difficult even to enter the
field, leave alone get at the pests. And that is just one of the problems in pesticide
use and abuse. Chew on this official figure: Nearly 90 percent of pesticides
never hit the pests they are meant to, and end u contaminating air, soil and
water – eventually entering the food chain as a slow poison. What makes this
worse is that over 80 percent of all pesticides are used in growing cotton,
rice, vegetables and fruits covering just a third of the cropped area. Many of these
pesticides compounds remain in the soil, building up to toxic levels with
respect use – particularly in soils with low organic matter and microbial
biodiversity. India Council of Agricultural Research scientists, Deputy
Director – General J. S. Samra and Assistant Director –General (soils) P.D.
Sharma, say this is dangerous: daily intake of even small quantities of these
residues with food may be hazardous in the long run, leading to cancer; reduced
life span and fertility, increased cholesterol and many metabolic and genetic
disorders. The strange bit is that pesticide use has actually been coming down
since 1990, from 60,000 metric tons of technical grade material to about 43,000
metric tons in 2001. Pesticide use in India is low, about 0.45 per kg a
hectare, compared to figures of 1-12 kg/ hectare for countries such as the US,
Korea and Japan. However this hasn’t minimized our troubles. Scientists point
to “widespread contamination” of soil, water and food. Samra and Sharma cite
figures indicating that more than half of all food items are contaminated, up
to 20 percent with residues crossing maximum permissible limits. “Pests present
small targets and application efficiency is low,” says Sharma. His colleague,
Assistant Director General (plant protection) O.P Dubey, describes a range of
problems: ignorant farmers, small holdings which allow pests to migrate from
one field which is spread to another which is not, cheap spurious chemicals and
scant work on pesticide application technology. “We are slowly realizing the
problem of spraying systems and are making changes,” he says. Solutions are
possible through “the right dose, right quantity and right spirit.” Bur there are
many ifs and buts. Dubey gives an example: In some cases, vegetables from
fields have had residues just five percent above the limit, this figure
mysteriously climbing to 60 percent by the time these reach the market.
Answer
the following question.
Q1.
Give an overview of the case.
Q2.
What are the remedies available for the above case? Explain.
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