Modern agriculture practices have been great promise for economic development of nation. Farm productivity is directly proportional to use of agrochemicals as observed from the first green revolution. Improper and unsafe use of these agrochemicals, especially pesticides is not only harmful to environment but also human health. Pesticides cause 14 per cent of all known occupational injuries in agriculture and 10 per cent of all fatal injuries.

Carson no ‘beacon of reason’ on DDT. (Correspondence)

Pakistan is ranked fourth among the top five cotton-producing countries in the world. About 70–80% of the cultivated
area is under Bt cotton in Pakistan. Bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) is the major pest of cotton. It causes 31.73–
36.45% yield losses and these are reduced by heavy pesticide application. There has been a tremendous increase in
the import and use of pesticides. Consequently, about 7.7 billion rupees is spent on pesticides every year. Considering
the total pesticide usage (94,265 metric tonnes in 2007–08), 70% is being used exclusively on cotton.

WHO estimates that about 170 000 deaths by suicide occur in India every year, but few epidemiological studies of suicide have been done in the country. The authors aimed to quantify suicide mortality in India in 2010.

The Green Revolution was India’s first industrial agricultural revolution that replaced the traditional farming system completely. But the adverse consequences of Green Revolution in the form of stagnation in production aggravated the problems of the farmers in the era of post-Green Revolution in 1980s and 1990s. The late 1990s witnessed an emergency of debt-driven suicides and rapid indebtedness that had taken hold of the countryside across the nation.