USE OF CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS AND PESTICIDES

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LOK SABHA

The average consumption of fertilizers in the country was 91.49 kg. per hectare and that of pesticides 0.57 kg. per hectare during 2001-02. This is not considered high. However, to ensure that there is no ill effect of any kind due to imbalanced use of plant nutrients, the Government propagates the use of integrated nutrients combining chemical fertilizers, organic manures and bio-fertilizers on the basis of soil tests as per the requirement of the crop.

To minimize the use of chemical pesticides, the Government is promoting the Integrated Pest Management which is an eco-friendly approach . It aims at keeping pests below the economic thresholds level by employing all available alternate pest control methods and techniques with greater emphasis on use of bio-pesticides and pesticides of plant-origin like Neem formulations.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Agriculture, Shri Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav in a written reply to a question by Shrimati Margaret Alva in the Lok Sabha today.