Farmers across the country have been advised to use agro inputs such as pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers, among others, to improve soil fertility, manage pests and achieve maximum yield.
However, some of these agrochemicals farmers are using in their farms are hazardous to human health and the environment.
As such, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries recently banned the use of nine agricultural agro chemical inputs since they pose human health and environmental hazards. This was revealed during the second annual Crop Life Symposium held in Kampala.
Background
While these synthetic inputs significantly increase harvests, they also raise critical concerns regarding food safety, ecosystem health and human toxicity.
Many smallholder farmers particularly in the western and central regions report that using fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides has effectively doubled their yields and profit margins for cash crops like maize, tomatoes, Irish potatoes, and beans.
Agricultural companies, often working with the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) and the Ministry of Agriculture are transitioning away from generalised fertilisers to crop-specific blends to maximize nutrient absorption and prevent soil degradation.
The experts believe some of the challenges which must be checked include Food Safety and Health Hazards because the excessive or improper use of agrochemicals leads to elevated chemical residues in food products like vegetables and milk.
Studies have raised alarms over highly hazardous pesticides some of which are banned globally finding their way to local markets.
Counterfeits and misapplication can be a problem because a lack of regulatory oversight in village markets means farmers frequently purchase counterfeit products or use chemicals without observing safe pre-harvest intervals
It is because of these challenges which led the Ministry of agriculture to ban 9 agro chemicals in the market and imposed restrictions on nine other agrochemicals for farmers to use on specific crops.
Insights by Crop life experts
The Chief Executive Officer Crop Life Africa Middle East, Ms Stella Simiyu, explained that Crop protection which emphasises the use of quality seed and advanced technologies such as Biotechnology is key for farmers to achieve better yields.
She contends that it is impossible to achieve food security, trade and sustainable goals unless regulatory systems are put in place to enable effective agri input innovations for farmer uptake.
She called upon African countries including Uganda to adopt fit for purpose emerging agricultural technologies, apply science and risk based assessments for agricultural products and link regulation to farmer access.
Banned and Restricted Chemicals
The Commissioner Crop Inspection and Certification Ministry of Agriculture Dr Paul Mwambu, explained that Crop Life raised concern for the ministry to review 18 agro chemicals about the risks of their ingredients which the ministry experts did using scientific laboratory tests.
This regulatory review was triggered by emerging international scientific evidence and trade concerns relating to potential risks posed by certain active ingredients to human health, environmental safety, food systems and compliance with international residue standards on agricultural commodities
Therefore, following technical review by the Agricultural Chemicals Control Technical Committee and final consideration by the Agricultural Chemicals Review Committee, the government reached a decision of phasing out nine active ingredients.
These include Alpha-cypermethrin and Chlorothalonil which are pollutants of water and may end up destroying aquatic life and they are toxic to beneficial insects such as bees.
Others are Atrazine, Butachlor and Carbofuran which are toxic to underground water and the environment.
The former causes reduced male fertility, coma and circulatory collapse as well as gastric bleeding while the latter irritates the skin and eyes and causes toxicity to fauna and flora.
Dichlorvos is acutely toxic to environment while Dimethoate causes reproductive disorder and is toxic to pollinators Meanwhile Diuron and Propanil cause Kidney failure, spleen and liver damage.
The nine active ingredients which the committee placed under restricted use for specific crops include Ametryn which is restricted for sugarcane and pineapple weeding while Carbendazim is restricted for use on cashew nuts only.
Chlorpyrifos is restricted only for use on ants in anthills and Fipronil is restricted in controlling termites in building sites.
Imidacloprid is restricted to seed companies for seed treatment and Indoxacarb is restricted for use on tomatoes to control tuta absoluta and diamondback moth insects.
There is no alternative at the moment for Mancozeb and yet it is critical for fugal management of several fungal diseases in fruits, vegetables and crops such as potatoes and tomatoes among others.
The ministry is retaining it for the next five years as alternatives are being sought.
Profenofos has been restricted for the control of fall armyworm and Thiamethoxam is restricted for use on coffee to control black coffee twig borer and in Maize to control fall army worm.
Dr Mwambu notes that the banned agro chemicals have other alternatives and that the decisions made are part of the government’s obligation to ensure that only safe, effective and internationally acceptable agricultural chemical products remain in circulation and use by farmers.