Professor Michael Eddleston explores the problem of pesticide poisoning in India and the challenges and opportunities for tackling the issue.
*Warning: This article discusses suicidal behaviour. If you have questions on self-harm or feel suicidal, use this link to find an international helpline.*
Since the Green Revolution in the 1960s, worldwide use of chemical pesticides has grown steadily. Pesticides were meant to protect crops and farmer livelihoods. But this has come at a huge cost to human health.
Pesticide poisoning is now a major global health problem. Every year, an estimated 385 million people (that’s 44% of the world’s farming population) suffer from unintentional poisoning with pesticides, leading to 11,000 deaths.
Even more significantly, over 100,000 people die from intentional (self-harm) poisoning with pesticides, making it one of the most common methods of global suicide.
Pesticide poisoning is a particular problem in rural farming communities in low- and middle-income countries, such as India, where there is easy access to harmful, toxic pesticides.
Prevalence of pesticide poisoning in India
India is a global agricultural powerhouse, with 64% of the total population living in rural communities. Therefore, it is no surprise that it is also one of the biggest users of pesticides and, consequently, has one of the highest rates of pesticide poisoning.
The first officially recorded cases of pesticide poisoning in India date back to 1958, when 100 people died after consuming flour contaminated with a deadly insecticide.
Today, an estimated 145 million cases of unintentional, acute pesticide poisoning are reported in India every year, leading to around 10,000 unintentional deaths.
However, intentional pesticide self-poisoning is also a significant concern, with 20% – 30% of all suicides in India thought to be from pesticide poisoning. While official reports estimate 25,000 deaths from pesticide self-poisoning each year, suicide is known to be significantly underreported.
A recent analysis of India’s suicide rate estimated that about 230,000 deaths occur annually. Given the extent of underreporting and the importance of pesticide suicides, the true number of deaths from pesticide self-poisoning may therefore be closer to 70,000 deaths each year.
Access to harmful pesticides in India’s rural farming communities
All pesticides are toxic. They are specifically intended to kill insects, rodents, and other organisms that are considered to damage crops. But pesticides can also be just as harmful to humans.
However, it is important to note that not all pesticides pose the same risk to human health. Some have very low toxicity and are therefore low risk. There are others though – classed as highly hazardous pesticides – that can be acutely toxic and deadly to humans. Exposure to even a small amount can be enough to kill.
Farm workers may also suffer chronic effects of pesticide poisoning, due to long term exposure. There have been reports of pesticide sprayers in India struggling with breathlessness, peripheral sensory neuropathy, and recurrent abdominal pain.
In India’s rural farming communities, these harmful pesticides are often sold locally and then stored in homes and gardens. This not only gives farmers, but also their family members, easy access to extremely toxic substances.
This can lead to accidental poisoning, where children play and drink from bottles they find at home. It also contributes to deaths from intentional poisoning, providing access to lethal means of suicide in moments of crisis or mental distress.
Pesticide manufacturers often attribute pesticide poisoning to ‘misuse,’ shifting the blame onto farm workers.
However, farmers may be unable to understand the labels on pesticide bottles, afford appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), or be able to use and store them safely. Notably, lockable storage has clearly been shown to be an ineffective solution.
The reality is that there is little that can be done to lessen the threat to life from acutely toxic pesticides. The only effective way to stop deaths is to eliminate the danger altogether – removing highly hazardous pesticides from all agricultural use.
The pesticide laws in India: what can states do?
India has already taken many positive steps towards regulating highly hazardous pesticides.
After an initial national ban of 16 pesticides in 2018, the Indian government proposed to ban the use of 27 pesticides in 2020. However, only three of these pesticides have since been banned, although importantly the commonly used concentrated monocrotophos 36% solution was banned nationally in 2023.
The federal system itself poses a challenge. As the pesticides sector in India is controlled by the Central Government (under the Insecticides Act), action by individual states is constrained.
In 2023, the Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention commissioned a review of existing laws and policies for pesticide regulation in India. The aim was to understand what powers Indian states had to prevent pesticide-related harms.
The review identified a range of laws and policies related to health, environment, and organic farming that states can use to avoid harm from pesticide poisoning. This includes power for Indian states to implement temporary bans on pesticides.
Both the states of Tamil Nadu and Odisha have recently taken this step, due to the health impact of harmful pesticides.
In 2020, Tamil Nadu temporarily banned six hazardous pesticides responsible for a high number of poisoning cases and deaths in the state. In late 2023, the state of Odisha announced a temporary ban on paraquat, a deadly pesticide that doctors in the state had long campaigned against.
States have also used environmental and organic farming policies to encourage farmers to use alternatives to harmful pesticides. Andhra Pradesh and Sikkim have both adopted this approach.
Harmful pesticides are not needed for agriculture
A claim, often made by the pesticide industry, is that highly hazardous pesticides are needed for agriculture in India. Without them, crops will fail, farmers will lose their livelihoods, and the economy will suffer.
But this is not the case.
Across other South Asian countries (including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and South Korea), it has already been shown that highly hazardous pesticides can be removed from agriculture with no adverse impact on food production.
There are also good examples from within India. In 2011, the state of Kerala banned 14 highly hazardous pesticides, which resulted in a marked reduction in deaths from pesticide poisoning. A later study found no evidence that these bans negatively impacted crop yields.
Alternatives to highly hazardous pesticides in India
However, it is important that less harmful alternatives are available (and affordable) to farmers. Without these in place, it would be reckless to implement bans on existing pesticides as farmers have got used to using them.
The devastating impact of such action can be seen in Sri Lanka’s sudden ban on all pesticides and fertilizers in 2021 – a contributing factor to the country’s economic crisis.
Alternatives may include use of less harmful pesticides (e.g. biopesticides), adopting integrated pest management systems, or a move away from chemical pesticides completely.
India’s state of Andhra Pradesh has chosen the latter option, developing a natural farming programme known as the ‘Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF)’. It aims to achieve 100% chemical-free agriculture across the state by 2030.
Similarly, the state of Sikkim has been widely recognised for its achievements in organic farming, winning Gold at the 2018 Future Policy Award for becoming the first organic state in the world. It has implemented a total ban on the sale and use of pesticides, using organic farming laws and economic powers – such as taxes and subsidies to discourage pesticide use.
Preventing deaths from pesticide poisoning in India: the way forward
Through the action of individual states, along with implemented and proposed national bans, India has shown a real commitment to tackling the problem of pesticide poisoning.
Furthermore, in 2022, India published its first national suicide prevention strategy. This explicitly mentions the need to restrict access to dangerous pesticides, calling for a phase out of hazardous pesticides (in line with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines), and provide alternative measures of pest control.
All of this is extremely encouraging. However, we know that pesticide bans face stiff opposition from industry, along with those who believe that the economy could suffer. India doesn’t just use pesticides; it also manufactures and exports them. If it was to stop producing a certain pesticide, the opportunity might be seized by another country.
India’s policy-makers need to ensure that economic interests do not outweigh the threat to public health. This includes moving ahead with national bans on problematic pesticides, supporting international action (e.g. through the Rotterdam Convention) on highly hazardous pesticides, and using state powers to curb use and impact of pesticides.
In this way, India will be able to protect hundreds of millions of its citizens from the unnecessary dangers of pesticide poisoning.
Professor Michael Eddleston
Director, Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention
Michael Eddleston is Professor of Clinical Toxicology at the University of Edinburgh. His research has covered the natural history of pesticide poisoning (ie. what happens after people ingest various pesticides), the medical treatment of poisoned patients, and strategies for prevention of deaths from pesticide suicides.
Further information
The Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention has a team of Project & Policy Officers and consultants based in India. They work at both central and state level, building collaborations, supporting data collection, and engaging with policy makers.
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