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GUWAHATI: Red flags went up lately over the tea industry’s plan to spray dimethoate, an insecticide banned in 31 nations, to control an infestation of tea mosquito bug that sucks the sap from light green shoots just before they are ready to be plucked for processing, resulting in heavy crop losses.
The Central Insecticides Board (CIB) recently cleared the ad hoc use of dimethoate in tea plantations, which many planters say would compromise safety standards of Indian tea as the insecticide is highly toxic and pose serious health risks.
“The decision to allow this dangerous chemical to be sprayed on tea against helopeltis (tea mosquito bug) may prove harmful for human consumption at a time when tea farming is heading to a safe mode with the use of safer chemical compounds,” said tea planter PK Bezbaruah, who is a former chairman of the Tea Board of India.
He feared that dimethoate would be used in Assam too. The state is the top producer of tea in India, but pest infestations have been increasing because of declining rainfall and rising temperatures brought on by climate change—ideal conditions for pests like looper caterpillars and tea mosquitoes to infest tea trees and leaves. According to AK Barooah, former director of Tocklai Tea Research Institute, “dimethoate is definitely a toxic compound but the crop needs a safe interval between spraying and plucking”. But he cautioned: “Scientific data on residues of this pesticide must be examined before wide use.”
Some like Bidyananda Barkakoty, adviser to North East Tea Association, felt that “if maximum residue level is not breached after dimethoate use, there is no reason to worry and it can be considered safe like other pesticides”.
The Central Insecticides Board (CIB) recently cleared the ad hoc use of dimethoate in tea plantations, which many planters say would compromise safety standards of Indian tea as the insecticide is highly toxic and pose serious health risks.
“The decision to allow this dangerous chemical to be sprayed on tea against helopeltis (tea mosquito bug) may prove harmful for human consumption at a time when tea farming is heading to a safe mode with the use of safer chemical compounds,” said tea planter PK Bezbaruah, who is a former chairman of the Tea Board of India.
He feared that dimethoate would be used in Assam too. The state is the top producer of tea in India, but pest infestations have been increasing because of declining rainfall and rising temperatures brought on by climate change—ideal conditions for pests like looper caterpillars and tea mosquitoes to infest tea trees and leaves. According to AK Barooah, former director of Tocklai Tea Research Institute, “dimethoate is definitely a toxic compound but the crop needs a safe interval between spraying and plucking”. But he cautioned: “Scientific data on residues of this pesticide must be examined before wide use.”
Some like Bidyananda Barkakoty, adviser to North East Tea Association, felt that “if maximum residue level is not breached after dimethoate use, there is no reason to worry and it can be considered safe like other pesticides”.
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