As demand for crops rises, Padma is under increasing pressure to be able to produce and deliver larger quantities with each yield in a market which has only become more competitive over time. Padma simply cannot meet the demands of his distributors through basic agricultural farming. For the 83% of farmers in Nepal, such as Padma, who rely on agriculture as their primary income, using pesticides, often excessively, is the only method of fulfilling the demands for their produce.
Every harvest, Padma uses three different types of pesticides, and a chemical growth stimulator worth Rs 3,300 in total. He buys the pesticides over the counter by telling the dealer what he requires for each harvest, and what problems his crops have faced in the past. But when asked what the names of the pesticides he uses are, Padma can only shake his head – he has no knowledge of what he has been “prescribed”, or what chemicals are used in the cocktails of pesticides he is exposed to everyday.
Padma is just one example of a farmer who has turned to the excessive use of pesticides in order to make a living. The evidence he gives of using pesticides excessively comes shortly after the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that rice, pulse and vegetables consumed in the Kathmandu Valley contain high levels of pesticides hazardous to human health – and not just through consumption.
The terraced golden fields behind the bus shelter Padma gestures towards as he speaks betray no obvious signs of pesticide damage. Padma is pointing past his own land to the aana of fields beyond, which stop abruptly where a Himalayan mountain range emerges like upturned ice cream cones. The landscape is deceptively beautiful, because the real damage is suffered by Padma himself.
Hundreds of farmers use pesticides everyday in Nepal without Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) or any background safety knowledge. Here in Keraghari, the farmers have heard little about the lasting damaging effects on their health which can be a result of long-term pesticide use. Padma suffers from side effects such as headaches, respiratory problems and memory loss – symptoms which can be traced directly back to pesticide poisoning.
Pesticides have been linked to carcinogenic, mutagenic and tetragenic properties, and, according to the WHO, 20,000 commercial farmers die from pesticide exposure and poisoning annually. But Padma says farmers here have little other option.
With three harvests in a year, Padma admits there is barely a month between the harvests when he does not come into contact with pesticide. “There’s no fixed time before we [farmers] return to the fields after we’ve sprayed pesticide. It just depends,” he shrugs. A slightly built man, the years Padma has spent laboring in his fields have started to show in the lines on his thin face.
Some steps have been taken to increase awareness of poisoning. A year back, an NGO visited farmers in the area and offered training on the importance of wearing PPE and the health and safety issues involved in spraying pesticides. The NGO conducted research on the pesticides the farmers were using, trained them on the correct equipment they should use, and taught them how to use pesticides safely. They neglected to take into account one major factor, however: the farmers’ attitudes towards their health.
Various other NGOs have also followed suit, by building a water mains in Keraghari, and attempting to encourage farmers to stop using pesticides through training and educational programs. But farmers have said there has since been no contact from any of the organizations, or the government.
Farmers in the area have tried alternative methods of pest control, but to no avail. During a trial of organic pesticide, Padma lost all his harvest to daduwa, a disease which dries the leaves of crops. “The crops are ruined, and when you use organic pesticide, the crops are smaller,” says Padma, shaking his head.
Padma says he and his friends are open to alternative methods of farming. But it appears finding and implementing a method which will suit the farmers will take some time. Even when asked if he uses PPE during the application of pesticides, Padma only says, “We use masks.” When chided for a more elaborate response, he replies; “It’s very uncomfortable,” and averts his gaze.
As a member of the Shiva Parbati Fresh Vegetable Farmers’ Group, Padma, like many other farmers, believes that he has built up immunity to pesticides over the years. The side effects he suffers from, Padma says, are tolerable.
Until farmers such as Padma and other farmers can be made aware of the complete dangers of pesticide use not just to their health but to others’ health too, phasing out pesticides may take a while longer. Incidentally, help may need to come in the shape of government incentives or government operated program, not just NGOs and INGOs.
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