Unrestrained use of pesticides in crop cultivation is creating huge harm to biodiversity in the country. It is also increasing the risk of such chemicals contaminating the food chain.
The government must do more to improve awareness among farmers who use chemicals and insecticides about ways to reduce their use and help protect the environment.
Food businesses and traders have a duty to consumers to guarantee an uncontaminated food chain. They must show zero tolerance for dangerous chemicals and help farmers work to minimise pesticide use.
It is important to protect food crops, but not at the risk of endangering public safety.
With an increasing population and growing urbanisation, the country needs to continually produce food in a productive and sustainable manner. It is vital to discourage risky or unsustainable practices that could threaten human health or the future viability of land and nature.
Public demand for organically-produced foods shows that there is potential for farmers to gain by actively switching away from pesticides and even eschewing them altogether.
Non-chemical organic farming techniques using more manure, crop rotation, compost, and biological pest control, with stricter limitations on synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones, can be both hugely popular with consumers, and safer and more sustainable for the environment.
There is a lot to be said for suppliers and producers working together to reduce pesticide use and encourage more purely organic farming. It would do much to aid our sustainability, by helping promote and enhance our biodiversity and by maintaining ecological harmony.
