CropLife India aims to reach out more than4.5 lakh farmers on the Responsible Use of Crop Protection Products and ensure availability of PPE kits through retail outletsduring 2018-2020
January 21, 2019; Hyderabad /Guntur, Andhra Pradesh:CropLife India announced a successful completion of the first year of the extensive awareness drive for farmers on the importance and use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Responsible Use of Crop Protection Products, in a ceremony held at Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. The ceremonies were held in the villages of Prathipadu Mandal and Vatticherukuru Mandal. Present on the occasion were Shri Ramamurthy, Joint Director Agriculture, Prakasam; ShriNagarjuna and Shri Hemant – Mandal Parishad Extension Officers,distributors, retailers, delegates from CropLife International, CropLife Asia, member companies and other officials.
CropLife India along with its member companieshavebeen working towards making the PPE Kits available at retail outlets for farmersthrough thedistribution channels in Andhra Pradesh. CropLife India in collaboration with EFFORT, an NGO has been committed towards empowering the rural communities and raising awareness on the responsible and safe use of Crop Protection Products along with importance and proper use of Personal Protective Equipment. The Field team of EFFORT comprising ofenthusiastic agriculture graduates and post-graduates has been trained by the experts from CropLife International and India in effective knowledge transfer to farmers with the objective toshare importance of PPE and its use and also provide information to farmers on the retail outlets that stock and sell these kits while encouragingthem to purchase.
The Ongoing project is in five districts of Andhra Pradesh, namely Guntur, East Godavari, West Godavari, Kurnool and Prakasham. In each of these districts, the project implementation is supported by local government bodies, farmer associations and Kisan Unions, and locally operational NGOs. Departments of Agriculture at State and District level are in syncwith the outreach effort through communication channels targeted at farmers, spray-men and their families.
Speaking at the momentous occasion, Mr.BrijUberoi, CEO, CropLife India, said “We are exhilarated on the response received from the farmers, which is also evident in the fact that farmers are showing keen interest in purchase of the PPE Kits. The retail model has ensured that the importance and use of PPE is promoted every time the farmer purchases Crop Protection Products.The campaign functions in not only educating the farmers, but also helps in mitigating the risk of unsafe handling of Crop Protections products and empower farmers and their families towards achieving safety and security. We would continue to strive on this path and through our outreach efforts, we will target the rural communities at a scale never seen before, driving awareness across multiple channels.
Shri Ramamurthy, Joint Director Agriculture, Prakasam, Andhra Pradeshadmired the scale and intent of the CropLife India project saying “CropLife India has received the full support of our State and district administration in reaching out to farmers on safe use of Crop Protection Products and ensuring the adoption of PPE.The campaign is exploring all the possible avenues of outreach to farmers and spray-men through Field Training, cultural events, School Programmes, etc.; which will inducepeer-to-peer learning among farmers and their families”.
The program also cover a wide range of topics such as transportation and secure storage of Crop Protection products, understanding the label, judicious and responsible use of Crop Protection products, personal health and hygiene, use of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), correct spraying techniques, maintaining sprayers and nozzles and triple rinsing of used empty containers.
About CropLife India:
CropLife India is an Association of Technology driven Crop Science Industry, committed to Advancing Sustainable Indian Agriculture. CropLife India promotes the benefits and responsible use of Crop Protection products, as well as sound regulatory frameworks in support of sustainable agriculture in India. CropLife India is part of CropLife International, a global federation of the plant science industry in over 90 countries. CropLife India believes in a strong and science-based regulatory system to protect people and the environment such that timely access to new crops, new Crop Protection products or new uses for existingCrop Protection products should be promoted.
Our Membersare –
ADAMA India Pvt. Ltd.,BASF India Ltd., Bayer CropScience Ltd., DowDuPontAgroSciences India Pvt. Ltd.,Excel Crop Care Ltd., FMC India, Indofil Industries Ltd., Isagro (Asia) Agrochemicals Pvt. Ltd., Monsanto Holdings Pvt Ltd., Rallis India Ltd., Syngenta India Limited, Sumitomo Chemical India Pvt. Ltd.,SWAL Corporation Ltd., PI Industries, T-Stanes and Nisso Chemicals LLP.
