Excessive use of pesticides causing harm to human health: expert

Pakistan is spending Rs 14 billion per year on pesticides, which are not only leaving hazardous effects on human health but are also responsible for killing of many lives.
This was stated by Entomologist and Principal Officer of Public Relations and Publications, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF), Dr Muhammad Jalal Arif, while briefing a delegation of 25 officials from Wapda Administrative Staff College, headed by Director Mubashir Mahmood, at Vice Chancellor Syndicate, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.
He stressed the need to curtail the trend of excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides by creating awareness among the masses and promoting the use of disease-resistant varieties enriched with plant breeding and genetics technology across the country. He said that due to lack of awareness, common farmers are spraying pesticides 10 to 15 times more than requirement. That is not only spoiling the money but also damaging the health of masses. He said injudicious use of pesticides is also responsible for increase the life-threatening diseases like cancer, TB, etc.
Dispelling the concept that outbreak of dengue virus is a result of bio war, he termed it just a rumour and way to misguide the nation. He said it is not possible to eradicate the virus from the country. "With the help of precautionary measures and proper treatment, we can minimise chances of the disease easily."
He said the university was working on war footing to fight the virus by producing quality researches on it. As a result, the university has produced two PhD scholars on the virus, he added. Talking about function and performance of the university, he said that under the dynamic of leadership of Vice Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmed Khan, the university has revived FSC pre-agriculture and outreached programme that would help transfer knowledge into goods and services.
He said the university had also set up women complex centre and a medical centre for ladies to provide them state-of-the-art facilities at the campus. After that, the delegation visited Faculty of Agricultural Engineering where Dr Muhammad briefed them about the performance of the delegation. He said to cater the needs of the industry, the faculty is launching BSc Food Engineering this year.
He said that by using the Reverse Engineering, the faculty has redeveloped a thresher and chopper, reducing the weight of 300 kilograms and 500 kilograms of the said machines respectively. The machines also save 1.5 litre of fuel per hour and work with improved efficiency. He also stated about the other redeveloped machinery of the department.
The delegation visited the Post-Harvest Lab where Dr Amanullah told them that Pakistan was producing 1.7 million tonnes of mangoes per annum but due to lack of post-harvest technologies, "we have not marketed our said product in the global market properly. That is why it is being sold at lowest price there whereas. Australia is producing 60,000 tonnes of mangoes and generating heavy money by exporting it after processing". The team also visited ROSE lab where Project Director Dr Muahmmad Aslam Khan briefed them about the project. He said with the one kilogram extract of roses, one can earn one million rupees. He also briefed the guests about the functioning of machines set up at the lab.