No Pesticides > Higher Yields Income. Health.
. by Samarpita Mukherjee Sharma
3,500 Indian villages have already replaced toxic, expensive pesticides with a broth of local plants. Villages are returning to prosperity, heath and integrity. This practice is a solution for many more. The pesticide and debt crisis causes thousands of farmer suicides every year. A few experts call for solutions, Time to spread this one! And everyone can join in this Knowledge Transfer! This includes YOU.
This is an EcoTipping-Point story! There is much more to this story, since it is an approach with strong systemic effects on the entire community that goes far beyond the greening of the cotton production! Dont know ETPs? Youll love them! The accompanying very simple and direct information upgrades your understanding for complex, systemic problems and how to turn them into abundance.
But first: lets look at the big breakthrough:
NON-PESTICIDE COTTON PRODUCTION
The Problem: India is one of the biggest cotton producing countries. The boom made countless farmers shift to cotton production. Soon, a combination of pesticides, money lending and price dumping led entire regions into disaster, causing bancruptcy, human and waterway poisoning, shame, suicides, families and villages falling apart In 2006, 1,044 suicides were reported in Vidarbha state alone thats one suicide every 8 hours. (PBS)
The negative tipping point came in the early 1980s with the introduction of cotton farming that included chemical pesticides as an integral part of the production package.
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Insect control with chemical pesticides proved unsustainable. The farmers descended into a downward spiral of pesticide poisoning and debt:
The pest insects developed resistance, setting in motion a vicious cycle of heavier pesticide use and more resistance. Human pesticide poisoning became common. Natural control of the pest insects by birds and predatory insects declined as these animals were killed by heavier insecticide use. This made the farmers even more dependent on insecticides, increasing the quantity of insecticides applied to the fields.
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Heavy insecticide use cut deeply into the farmers income. Compounded with sometimes catastrophic medical expenses due to pesticide poisoning, debt increased, and so did despair and suicides. Debt to pesticide dealers made it difficult for farmers to break away from cotton production and the pesticides. The catastrophe has been reported about by The Guardian Newspaper and renowned sustainability scientist Vandana Shiva.
What we would like to see more reported worldwide is the simple way out!
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A SIMPLE, NO-COST SOLUTION
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The positive tipping point was the introduction of Non-Pesticide Management based on local plants like neem and an assortment of other ecological insect control methods.
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It started in Punukula village. The vicious cycle involving resistance to chemical insecticides disappeared. The ensuing cascade of effects reversed the other two feedback loops in the negative tip, transforming the vicious cycles to virtuous cycles:
Natural control was gradually restored as birds and predatory insects returned to the farms.
Free of heavy medical expenses and chemical insecticide costs, the farmers realized enough profit to start paying off their debts. Suicides declined and they were able to break away from the pesticide dealers.
Confidence from success with Non-Pesticide Management, along with higher incomes from farming, set in motion additional virtuous cycles involving entrepreneurial activities and projects for village welfare:
Ravi.
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