The Nilgiris: The TN government has banned the use of pesticides in Ooty District. The vegetable farmers and traders in Ooty market have not taken lightly to this decision and are protesting against this decision. They have shut shops in support of the protest and are undertaking a march against the government's decision.
The Nilgiris: The TN government has banned the use of pesticides in Ooty District. The vegetable farmers and traders in Ooty market have not taken lightly to this decision and are protesting against this decision. They have shut shops in support of the protest and are undertaking a march against the government's decision.
The TN government had announced Ooty District as a 'total organic faming district'. Subsequently the use of pesticides in Nilgiris district has been banned by the government. Farmers who use pesticides for the cultivation of mountain vegetables were warned by the Nilgiris District administration against the use of pesticides, failing which fines would be imposed.
The primary farming activity in Nilgiris is tea plantations and the second most active farming activity is the cultivation of vegetables. Vegetables like carrot, beetroot, cabbage, potato, garlic and exotic vegetables like zuccini, iceberg lettuce, celery and broccoli are grown here. Roughly 15 thousand hectares is under farming activity in Ooty.
The government's decision to declare Nilgiris a 'total organic farming district' like Sikkim, pesticides and chemical fertilizers have been banned for use from April. A fine of up to Rs.10,000 could be levied on farmers who fail to follow this, warned the District administration.
This move, has not gone well with the farmers who claim that the sudden imposition of organic farming cannot be accepted. They charged that, "the district administration must not force farmers to follow organic farming methods suddenly without giving them enough time to prepare for it. Secondly, yield would be badly affected without the use of pesticides."
They also resisted this implementation saying, "The district administration and the Tamilnadu Horticulture department that are keen to implement organic farming must research and study the effects of organic farming on the yield of the crops. When they have a suitable farming method that can increase the yield without the use of pesticides and fertilizers they must impart the knowledge to the farmers and then move on to implement organic farming", they insisted.
In order to register their disapproval with this implementation, a protest march was undertaken and shops in the market were shut down. This strike inconvenienced the regular life of the public.