`The Slow Poisoning of India ` or `Genetically Modified Foods - Panacea or Poison` .

Killing the Poor Softly : How Pesticide is Causing The Slow Poisoning of India

I think that Ramesh Menon 's documentary The Slow Poisoning of India is right when it criticizes the intensive use of agrochemical inputs in India 's farming villages . I was appalled by the fact that pesticide-use have exposed the populations of these villages to the risks of chemical poisoning and caused the deterioration of the natural environment . I agree with Menon 's criticism of the dependency of poor , agricultural countries on the modern farming systems represented by their reliance

on synthetic chemical inputs peddled by multinational corporations . Poor farmers , usually ignorant that they are in effect poisoning themselves and their families , use pesticides thinking that modern farming technologies will give them a better harvest but instead reap death and disease

I was deeply saddened at the fact that third world farmer 's dependency on agrochemical inputs is actually reinforced by government policies on food security which encourage the intensification of pesticide and chemical fertilizers for improving agricultural production . It was more troubling for me to find out that the strategies promoted by the World Bank , many governments and donors , to increase productivity frequently rely on providing access to fertilisers , improved seeds and agrochemical inputs (Pesticide Action Network , 2002 ,

. 1 ) I believe that the poisoning of India 's ecosystem and the diseases resulting from the ingestion of pesticide residue in food are damning proofs that governments and other agencies must reframe food security policies not only in India but in other agricultural countries if they want to salvage their people and environments

The way I see it , the human and environmental costs of continuing to deny the effect of pesticides are simply too large to ignore . The people and the government must act immediately to stop the death caused by pesticides and other agrichemical inputs before it becomes too late . We reap what we sow , and when we rely on poison to grow our food , we clearly reap the fruits of death and disease

Works Cited

Menon , Ramesh (2008 . The slow poisoning of India . The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI

Pesticide Action Network (2002 . Agriculture for food security Retrieved July 25 , 2008 from the Pesticide Action Network Website http /www .pan-uk .org /Internat /IPMinDC /pmn14 .pdf

The Slow Poisoning of India

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