The district administration has imposed a provisional ban on the sale of an insecticide, following the mysterious death of a farmer in Hunsur taluk on Saturday.
The farmer, Diwakar, fell ill after spraying ‘Lannate 40 SP’ on his field. He did not respond to treatment and breathed his last on the same day.
“A few other farmers too had fallen sick recently while spraying the same insecticide, but they recovered,” a release from the Agriculture Department, Mysuru, said.
Taking note of the mysterious death of the farmer (the exact cause of death is not known as the post-mortem was not conducted) and reports of farmers falling ill, Deputy Commissioner C. Shikha asked the Agriculture Department to send samples of the insecticide for laboratory tests.
She directed Joint Director of Agriculture Mahanteshappa to take immediate steps to test the samples and accordingly, they were sent to the Insecticide Control Laboratory in Mandya.
Until the test reports turn up, the sale of insecticide has been prohibited. The dealers of insecticides/pesticides have been cautioned against selling them, the release said.
The deceased farmer was a native of Modooru village in Hunsur taluk. Officials of the Agriculture Department visited the farmer’s house and requested the family to give consent for conducting post-mortem, but they refused, Mr. Mahanteshappa said.
