Production Without Paraquat

A new report by the IUF and Berne Declaration, a Swiss-based NGO, shows that production without paraquat is entirely feasible and is already happening in important crops. The report “Goodbye Paraquat” emphasizes that 50 major producers of bananas and tea, which traditionally have been big users of paraquat in their crops, have moved away from reliance in this substance.

On palm oil, there are some producers who are paraquat users, but there is a preference amongst palm oil buyers from palm produced without paraquat. As IUF General Secretary,Ron Oswald says, paraquat is a health hazard for agriculture workers. Now, we know that some leading food producers are opting out of using pesticides like paraquat, but it would be better if governments support this attitude by banning paraquat.

The results of the survey show that in palm oil, banana, and tea sectors Paraquat-free production is not only desirable but also economically viable and thus possible. Consequenty, statements by Syngenta, the leading producer of Paraquat, to the effect that the highly-toxic herbicide is indispensable are clearly untenable.

In Switzerland, Paraquat has been banned for twenty years and in Europe it lost approval in 2007. But on many developing countries the product is still sold in great quantities despite the lack of sufficient protection for users. We can not stop here. We need more progresses in occupation health!

http://www.iuf.org/