UN Agriculture Organization Calls On Developing Countries To Ban Toxic Pesticide

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization called on governments in developing countries to prohibit the use of the monocrotophos insecticide, which is already banned in the European Union and has been linked to the recent poisoning deaths of more than 20 children in India. School lunches cooked with oil with traces of the pesticide were blamed for the schoolchildren’s deaths. Also, the World Health Organization has asked India to ban the sale of the pesticide, saying it poses risks to human health and wildlife. While chemical pesticides and fertilizers are considered essential inputs in improving farm production, environmentalists assert they harm habitats and the natural productivity of the soil.