After several farmers were admitted to the taluk hospital in Hunsur upon spraying pesticides on field beans (avare), the Mysuru Agriculture Department has sent samples of field beans plants grown in Hunsur and surrounding places to the Pesticide Residue Analysis Laboratory in Bengaluru to check whether or not there had been any residual effect of Lannate 40 SP. Three more farmers were admitted to hospital on Sunday and discharged after getting treatment.
The department sent stems, leaf and pods of the plant to the laboratory for comprehensive evaluation. Incidentally, the price of field beans (avare) has come down substantially in Mysuru and avare is available for Rs. 20 a kg now.
A farmer, Diwakar, died recently after spraying Lannate 40 SP in his fields in Modooru village, about 10 km from Hunsur. Over 81 farmers were admitted after they developed nausea and were discharged after treatment.
A team of agriculture scientists comprising scientists from Mandya had visited a couple of villages, including Modooru, to study the cause behind the farmers falling sick.
Later the team had given a report stating that the farmers had used Lannate 40 SP, which is not a recommended insecticide for the cropThe team observed that Lannate was being sprayed in high concentration, resulting in increased risk to the person spraying the chemical. The team suggested that Lannate would have caused toxicity to farmers who sprayed it and recommended that the department ban the use of the pesticide.