As many as 81 farmers, who experienced nausea after spraying ‘Lannate 40 SP’ (pesticide) on field beans (avare), and were admitted to the Hunsuru taluk hospital during the last 10 days, have been discharged. They were retained in hospital for a day or two for treatment and observation.
Puttaswamy, District Health Officer, and Chandrashekar, Hunsuru taluk Health Officer, told The Hindu that the farmers fell ill reportedly after spraying pesticides on field beans. About 32 farmers, who did not recover in a day or two, were given comprehensive treatment before being sent home. Dr. Puttaswamy said two farmers were admitted to the hospital even on Friday.
Other farmers were believed to have come to Mysuru and availed treatment in private nursing homes and hospitals.
Farmer Diwakar died about a week ago while spraying Lannate 40 SP in his field in Modooru village, about 10 km from Hunsuru.
A team, comprising agriculture scientists from Mandya, along with agriculture officials, had visited a couple of villages in Hunsuru taluk where field beans were being grown, to ascertain the reason for the death of the farmer.
The team had in its report said all farmers cultivating field beans of Hunsuru taluk were using Lannate 40 SP, which is not a recommended insecticide for pests and crops. The team opined that Lannate is used only for cotton, chilli, pigeon pea and soybean.
The agriculture scientists found that indiscriminate use of Lannate was evident, and it was also found that Lannate was being sprayed with very high concentrations and low amount of spray solutions per unit area, resulting in increased risk to the person spraying the chemical. The majority of farmers told the scientists that they were using Lannate at one kg per acre, which is said to be a very high concentration. The team felt that Lannate definitely caused toxicity to farmers who used it. Though many farmers were aware of the bad effects of the chemical, they found it to be the best to manage the pod borer for a high income crop like field beans.
Keeping vigilMeanwhile, M. Mahanteshappa, Joint Director, told The Hindu that he had set up a team to keep a watch on pesticide shops in Hunsuru and surrounding areas, and seize the Lannate if it is among the stock. He said that using Lannate is banned in Mysuru and he claimed that the department is carrying out different awareness camps on the adverse affects of using the pesticide.
