Govt Orders Suspension of Manufacturing License of Defaulting Herbicide Company Over Crop Damage

New Delhi: In a decisive move to protect the agricultural sector from further harm, the Ministry of Agriculture has instructed state governments to suspend the manufacturing license of the company responsible for supplying a substandard herbicide, Chlorimuron Ethyl, which has been linked to extensive damage in soybean crops.

Talking to ETV Bharat, SRK Singh of ICAR said, "It is a herbicide product, so it should be used as prescribed. If we talk about how much of a negative effect it has on crops, it is a matter of further investigation, then it will be clear.”

Similarly, a senior scientist of ICAR-IARI (on condition of anonymity) told ETV Bharat, “Chlorimuron Ethyl is an herbicide which is often used in the field, but in the investigation, it will come out that it was a duplicate or mixed with other chemicals. Sometimes, it depends on the doses used. Maybe it was used in excess doses, which damaged the crops.”

In the findings report of scientists, the government has advised farmers not to use Chlorimuron Ethyl herbicide to protect crops from damage. The action comes after Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chauhan received complaints from many farmers of Madhya Pradesh that the use of herbicides called Chlorimuron Ethyl 25 per cent WP was ruining the soybean crops of the farmers.

"Taking these complaints seriously, Union Minister immediately ordered strict action against the company and the dealers, after which samples were seized and tested and when the samples were found to be substandard, FIR was lodged against the defaulting company in 3 districts of Madhya Pradesh, Vidisha, Dewas and Dhar, along with banning the sale of the remaining stock and the licenses of the dealers were also suspended. Instructions have also been given to conduct a campaign of extensive surprise raids across the country," Officials of the agriculture ministry said.

Following the instructions, the Agriculture Department had seized samples of the said herbicide from the market and had it tested. The test report found that the herbicide in question was of poor quality, and this was the reason for the damage to the crop. In this regard, FIR has been registered against the defaulting company in Vidisha (rural), Dewas (Kannaud), and Dhar (Badnawar) districts.

The Union Minister Chauhan has clarified that the state governments have been instructed to immediately suspend the manufacturing license of the defaulting company until all the investigation results are received.
Apart from this, the sale of the remaining stock available with the company has also been banned. The farmers are asked not to use Chlorimuron Ethyl 25% WP (Batch No KE-04) for the time being, so that the crops are not damaged further.