Economic and ecological externalities of pesticide use in India

Abstract

India is among the largest agricultural societies in the world as the agricultural sector provides livelihood to the majority of its one billion people. Modern agriculture use inputs such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides, seeds of high yielding varieties and mechanization that aided in increased yields ushering an era of green revolution in the country. Synthetic pesticides are one of the major agro-inputs that significantly contributed to the agricultural production in the country. These chemicals have become an inevitable input and constitute an integral part of modern crop-management practices. Pesticides may have helped in enhancing agricultural production, but at the same time these chemicals have caused adverse effects. This paper discusses the economic and ecological implications of pesticide use in India.