Global target for pesticide reduction unnecessary: Bhupender Yadav at COP15

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said that the agriculture sector in India, like other developing countries, is the source of “life, livelihoods, and culture for hundreds of millions,”

A numerical global target for pesticide reduction in the agriculture sector is unnecessary and must be left for countries to decide, India has said at the U.N. biodiversity conference here in Canada.

Speaking during a high-level segment of the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said that the agriculture sector in India, like other developing countries, is the source of “life, livelihoods, and culture for hundreds of millions,” and support to it cannot be targeted for elimination.

Currently, more than 40% of India’s total workforce is employed in agriculture, according to the World Bank data released till 2019.

“Our agriculture, as for other developing countries, is the source of life, livelihoods, and culture for hundreds of millions. Such essential support to vulnerable sections cannot be called subsidies, and targeted for elimination,” Mr. Yadav said on Friday.

“While they are being rationalised, biodiversity must be promoted through positive investment,” he said.

“Similarly, a numerical global target for pesticide reduction is unnecessary and must be left to countries to decide,” the Minister added.

The Target 7 of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) includes the reduction of pesticides by at least two-thirds by 2030.