Pesticide Regulatory Regime in India

Let us start with a simple but uncomfortable reality:

India regulates pesticides primarily to promote agriculture, not to protect health.
And this conflict lies at the heart of the problem.

🏛️ Existing Regulatory Framework

Who registers pesticides in India?

• Pesticides are registered by the Registration Committee (RC)
• The Central Insecticides Board (CIB) functions as an advisory body

Together, they are commonly referred to as CIBRC.

📜 Governing Law

• Insecticides Act, 1968
• Insecticides Rules, 1971

Objective of the Act

To regulate the import, manufacture, sale, transport, distribution and use of insecticides, so as to:

• Prevent risks to human beings
• Prevent harm to animals

🧪 How Does Pesticide Registration Happen?

• Companies apply to CIBRC
• They submit self-generated data on → Efficacy, Toxicity, Safety
• Based on RC recommendations, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare may:
  • Register a pesticide
  • Cancel registration
  • Allow continued use
  • Ban the pesticide

📌 Critical flaw:
👉 The regulator relies heavily on data provided by the pesticide companies themselves.

📘 Pesticide Management Bill, 2020

Recognising the failures of the old law, the Union Cabinet approved the Pesticide Management Bill, 2020 (already lapsed).

🎯 Key Objectives

• Promote organic and safer alternatives
• Provide digital information to farmers on → Strengths, Weaknesses, Risks, Alternatives, Environmental impacts
• Regulate pesticide advertisements
• Compensate farmers for losses due to spurious pesticides
• Mandatory registration for → Import, Manufacture, Export
• Detailed disclosure of → Claims, Efficacy, Safety, Storage conditions

📌 Intent: Shift from industry-centric to farmer-centric regulation.

🚨 Why Is a Fresh Law Necessary?

The Insecticides Act, 1968 is scientifically outdated.

Major shortcomings:

• Does not adequately consider modern toxicological evidence
• Fails to address:
  • Pesticide-related farmer deaths
  • Hospitalisations
  • Poisoning of wildlife and livestock
• Weak post-registration monitoring
• Poor enforcement

📌 Key argument:
👉 Regulation based on 1960s science cannot handle 21st-century chemical risks.

🌍 Pesticide Usage in India

• India is the 4th largest producer of pesticides globally
• Recent increase driven by herbicides like Glyphosate
  • Many countries have banned or restricted glyphosate
  • Used widely in India because:
    • Agricultural wages have risen
    • Manual weeding has become expensive

Consumption Pattern

• 8 states consume over 70% of India’s pesticides
• Highest consumption → Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana
• Crop-wise use:
  • Paddy: 26–28%
  • Cotton: 18–20%

📌 Insight: High pesticide use is linked to labour economics, not just pest pressure.

🧠 Key Recommendations for Reform

1️⃣ Empower States to Ban Pesticides

• States currently lack adequate powers
• Example:
  • Punjab and Kerala wanted to ban glyphosate
  • Prevented due to centralised control

📌 Federal issue: Agriculture is a State subject, but pesticide control is centralised.

2️⃣ Ban Pesticide Promotion

• Advertisements should be prohibited
• Interaction between → Pesticide companies, Dealers, Farmers
  should be treated as illegal

📌 Reason: Hazardous substances should not be marketed like consumer goods.

3️⃣ Ban WHO Class I Pesticides

• World Health Organization (WHO) classifies pesticides by acute toxicity:
  • Class Ia – Extremely hazardous
  • Class Ib – Highly hazardous
• In 2018, India banned 18 Class I pesticides
• But two major ones were left out → Monocrotophos, Carbofuran

📌 Contradiction: Widely used but extremely toxic.

4️⃣ Mandatory Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

• Sale of pesticides without PPE should be illegal
• Currently:
  • Farmers often spray pesticides bare-handed
  • Leads to chronic poisoning

5️⃣ Apply Polluter Pays Principle

• Liability and compensation should be fixed on → Pesticide manufacturers → Not on farmers or victims

6️⃣ Transparent Registration Process

• Risk assessment should be → Independent and Publicly accessible
• Not based on secret industry data

7️⃣ Transfer Regulatory Powers to Health Ministry

• Currently regulated by → Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare
• Recommendation → Shift powers to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
• Reason:
  • Avoid conflict of interest
  • Prioritise public health over crop yield

🚫 Collapse of Pesticide Regulation: 2020 Draft Ban Order

What happened?

• In 2020, the Agriculture Ministry proposed banning 27 pesticides, including:
  • WHO Class I pesticides
  • Probable human carcinogens
  • Bee-toxic and fish-toxic chemicals

Key facts:

• 24 of the 27 pesticides are already banned abroad
• Many were identified by:
  • Anupam Verma Committee (2015)
    → reviewed 66 “bannable” pesticides
• Implementation delayed citing COVID-19 pandemic

📌 Reality: Pandemic became an excuse, not a barrier.

⚠️ Examples from the List

• Carcinogenic: Oxyflourfen, Pendimethalin
• Endocrine disruptors: Dicofol, Carbofuran, Oxyflourfen
• Eco-toxic: Carbofuran, Monocrotophos

🧾 Deemed to be Registered Pesticides (DRPs)

This is the darkest corner of India’s pesticide regulation.

What are DRPs?

• Pesticides used before the Insecticides Act, 1968
• Allowed to continue with the assumption that data would be submitted later

Present situation:

• At least 51 DRPs → 6 withdrawn, 8 banned, 5 to be phased out
• 17 of the 27 proposed-to-be-banned pesticides are DRPs

Serious Concerns:

• No proper biosafety assessment ever done
• Data is → Secretive, Denied under RTI
• Yet, these pesticides continue to be considered for registration

📌 UPSC-worthy critique:
👉 Regulation without transparency is regulatory failure.

🧠 Summary

India’s pesticide regulatory regime—rooted in the Insecticides Act, 1968—has failed to keep pace with scientific evidence, resulting in weak health protection, excessive industry influence and continued use of highly hazardous and unassessed pesticides.