Insecticides India Ltd.: Agriculture Will Continue To Be Backbone of Indian Economy

There are very few domestic groups having neck to neck competition in globally competitive crop protection market of India, writes Prabodh Krishna on BusinessWorld.in. Insecticides India Ltd. is one amongst them, Rajesh Aggarwal Managing Director of the group opens up his ideas about agrochemical market of India.

BW: There is continuous international pressure for a fix residue level in crops. Will it hurt pesticide industry?

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RA: The level of pesticides in agricultural produce considered safe for consumption is defined as maximum residue limits (MRLs). The MRL values are dependent on crop and climate conditions and vary accordingly. We do not see MRLs set by the European Commission (EC), WHO and Prevention of Food Adulteration Act of India as a hindrance. The MRL fixation at the time of product registrations in India is done by the registration authorities. We would rather see it positive light. We take it as a broadening of avenues of exports for the farming community. Most of the new generation products have low or negligible residue. We at Insecticides (India) Limited (IIL) believe that crop protection is not just about crop protection. We must have a holistic, environmentally safe crop protection and crop health solutions for the overall wellbeing of Indian agriculture and millions of our farmers.

BW: Our pesticide consumption is still very low in percentage but it is excessive in many of the areas, your remarks?

RA: Yes, India’s average consumption of pesticides is very low compared to the rest of the world.

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Read more at BusinessWorld.in.

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