Imports of Pesticide From Europe Halted
Imports of Pesticide From Europe Halted
Head of Iran’s Plant Protection Organization says consumption of dangerous pesticide in the agriculture sector of the country has dropped sharply, adding that imports of pesticides from European countries has been halted due to sanctions.

Imports of Pesticide From Europe Halted

IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s Plant Protection Organization says consumption of dangerous pesticide in the agriculture sector of the country has dropped sharply, adding that imports of pesticides from European countries has been halted due to sanctions.

Speaking at a presser, Keikhosrow Changalvaee highlighted the latest performance of the organization in combat with pests in the agro sector. He said in the wheat fields, combat with two pests of rust and age are very important because these two pests can inflict heavy damages on the fields and production.

He said that in the current year, combat with rust pest carried out in the wheat fields over 570 hectares, reiterating the combat saved the country from damages worth some 1500b tomans.

He also said that the level of area for combat with age pest of wheat is some 2.5m hectare.

He then pointed to the country’s challenge with desert locusts, adding that this year the combat with the aggressive desert locusts has been carried out in an area around 400,000 hectares of agro lands.

Changalvaee added that each swarm group of desert locusts can use two million tons of wheat and it can inflict thousands of billion tomans of damage.

He warned that the population of aggressing desert locusts may become 20-fold in October, adding that due to heavy rains in India and Pakistan, the number of locust would increase in Iran.

He says it is expected the next invasion of locusts to happen in December. He said the locusts originally come from Arabian Peninsula.

Changalvaee added that the country needs at least 300b tomans of credit for better fight with this invasion.

He also said in the past ten years, the organization has tried its best to eliminate hazardous pesticides and replace them with lowly dangerous ones, adding that in 1996, hazardous pesticides accounted for 29 percent of farmers’ consumption basket but it was reduced to 5 percent last year.

He said that the amount of pesticide consumption in the world is 2.8 kilograms per hectare while in Iran it is 2.5 kilograms per hectare. He reiterated that the amount of consumed pesticides in the developed countries like Japan is 19 kilograms per hectare.

He noted that almost all pesticides used in the country are imported, noting that 95 percent of the needed pesticides are imported from India and Pakistan and the remaining amount is provided through other countries.

Changalvaee added that due to sanctions, imports of pesticides from European countries like Germany have been halted.