India among four nations driving most global pesticide toxicity: study Premium

India is among the four biggest contributors of pesticide toxicity in the world, affecting both terrestrial and aquatic species, a study has found.

India is among just four countries that contribute almost 70% to the world’s total applied toxicity (TAT) in the form of pesticide, which is directed at agricultural pests, but in affect unleashes huge collateral damage among “non-target” species (that is, species that pesticides claimed as collateral).

In 2022, at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, countries committed to reducing pesticide risk by 50% by 2030. Is the UN pact, intrinsically linked to biodiversity and human health, on track?

According to new paper in Science the answer is a resounding “no.” Researchers, for the very first time, calculated the total applied toxicity (TAT) from 2013-2019 across more than 600 pesticides, in 65 countries, and found that the applied toxicity had increased, especially for 20 pesticides used in agriculture.

China, Brazil, the U.S., and India are the biggest contributors of global TAT, accounting for nearly 70%. Pesticides, the researchers found, were used copiously on fruits, vegetables, maize, soybean, rice, and other cereals. While the study found that toxicity increased in India, the U.S., Brazil and several countries in Africa, Chile was the solitary country on track to meet the UN’s 2030 target. The increased TAT could be due to countries using larger volumes of pesticides, as well as more toxic ones, says the paper.

To estimate TAT at a national level, the scientists looked at the annual amount of pesticide used in agriculture in the study countries and also the toxicity and lethality of these pesticides for different non-target species, such as pollinators, aquatic plants, invertebrates, fish, terrestrial arthropods (invertebrates with segmented bodies), soil organisms, terrestrial vertebrates ,and plants. The researchers found that during the study period, terrestrial arthropods were most affected, followed by soil organisms and fish.

“The importance of all of these species’ groups is recognised in the biodiversity debate, in agroecology, and from an economic perspective,” says the paper. The increasing global TAT trends pose a challenge to achieving the U.N. pesticide risk reduction target and demonstrate the presence of threats to biodiversity globally, it added.