NON-PESTICIDE MANAGEMENT OF CROPS
IN INDIA
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A
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A dramatic
story about cotton farmers in India shows how destructive pesticides can be
for people and the environment; and why today’s agriculture is so dependent
on pesticides. This story also shows that it’s possible to stop using
chemical pesticides without losing a crop to ravaging insects, and it
explains how to do it.
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B
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The story began about 30 years
ago, a handful of families migrated from the Guntur district of Andhra
Pradesh, southeast India, into Punukula, a community of around 900 people
farming plots of between two and 10 acres. The outsiders from Guntur
brought cotton-culture with them. Cotton wooed farmers by promising to
bring in more hard cash than the mixed crops they were already growing to
eat and sell: millet, sorghum, groundnuts, pigeon peas, mung beans, chili
and rice. But raising cotton meant using pesticides and fertilizers – until
then a mystery to the mostly illiterate farmers of the community. When
cotton production started spreading through Andhra Pradesh state. The high
value of cotton made it an exceptionally attractive crop, but growing
cotton required chemical fertilizers and pesticides. As most of the farmers
were poor, illiterate, and without previous experience using agricultural
chemicals, they were forced to rely on local, small-scale agricultural
dealers for advice. The dealers sold them seeds, fertilizers, and
pesticides on credit and also guaranteed the purchase of their crop. The
dealers themselves had little technical knowledge about pesticides. They
merely passed on promotional information from multinational chemical
companies that supplied their products.
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C
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At first,
cotton yields were high, and expenses for pesticides were low because
cotton pests had not yet moved in. The farmers had never earned so much!
But within a few years, cotton pests like bollworms and aphids plagued the
fields, and the farmers saw how rapid insect evolution can be. Repeated
spraying killed off the weaker pests, but left the ones most resistant to
pesticides to multiply. As pesticide resistance mounted, the farmers had to
apply more and more of the pesticides to get the same results. At the same
time, the pesticides killed off birds, wasps, beetles, spiders, and other
predators that had once provided natural control of pest insects. Without
these predators, the pests could destroy the entire crop if pesticides were
not used. Eventually, farmers were mixing sometimes having to spray their
cotton as frequently as two times a week. They were really hooked!
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D
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The villagers were hesitant,
but one of Punukula’s village elders decided to risk trying the natural
methods instead of pesticides. His son had collapsed with acute pesticide
poisoning and survived but the hospital bill was staggering. SECURE’s staff
coached this villager on how to protect his cotton crop by using a toolkit
of natural methods chat India’s Center for Sustainable Agriculture put
together in collaboration with scientists at Andhra Pradesh’s state
university. They called the toolkit “Non-Pesticide Management” – or “NPM.”
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E
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The most
important resource in the NPM toolkit was the neem tree (Azadirachta
indica) which is common throughout much of India. Neem tree is a
broad-leaved evergreen tree related to mahogany. It protects itself against
insects by producing a multitude of natural pesticides that work in a
variety of ways: with an arsenal of chemical defenses that repel
egg-laying, interfere with insect growth, and most important, disrupt the
ability of crop-eating insects to sense their food.
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F
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In fact, neem
has been used traditionally in India to protect stored grains from insects
and to produce soaps, skin lotions, and other health products. To protect
crops from insects, neem seeds are simply ground into a powder that is
soaked overnight in water. The solution is then sprayed onto the crop.
Another preparation, neem cake, can be mixed into the soil to kill pests
and diseases in the soil, and it doubles as an organic fertilizer high in
nitrogen. Neem trees grow locally, so the only “cost” is the labor to
prepare neem for application to fields.
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G
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The first
farmer’s trial with NPM was a complete success! His harvest was as good as
the harvests of farmers that were using pesticides, and he earned much more
because he did not spend a single rupee on pesticides. Inspired by this
success, 20 farmers tried NPM the next year. SECURE posted two well-trained
staff in Punukula to teach and help everyone in the village, and the
village women put pressure on their husbands to stop using toxic chemicals.
Families that were no longer exposing themselves to pesticides began to
feel much better, and the rapid improvement in income, health, and general
wellbeing quickly sold everyone on the value of NPM. By 2000, all the
farmers in Punukula were using NPM, not only for cotton but for their other
crops as well.
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H
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The suicide epidemic came to
an end. And with the cash, health, and energy that returned when they
stopped poisoning themselves with pesticides, the villagers were inspired
to start more community and business projects. The women of Punukula
created a new source of income by collecting, grinding, and selling neem
seeds for NPM in other villages. The villagers rescued their indentured
children and gave them special six-month “catch-up,” courses to return to
school.
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Fighting
against pesticides, and winning, increased village solidarity,
self-confidence, and optimism about the future. When dealers tried to
punish NPM users by paying less for NPM cotton, the farmers united to form
a marketing cooperative that found fairer prices elsewhere. The leadership
and collaboration skills that the citizens of Punukula developed in the NPM
struggle have helped them to take on other challenges, like water
purification, building a cotton gin to add value to the cotton before they
sell it, and convincing the state government to support NPM over the
objection of multi-national pesticide corporations.
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Questions 1-4
Do the following statements agree with
the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet,
write
TRUE
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if the statement agrees with the information
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FALSE
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if the
statement contradicts the information
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NOT GIVEN
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if there is no information on
this
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1
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Cotton in Andhra Pradesh state could really bring more income to the
local farmers that traditional farming.
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2
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The majority of farmers had used agricultural pesticides before 30
years ago.
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3
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The yield
of cotton is relatively lower than that of other agricultural crops.
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4
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The farmers didn’t realize the spread of the pests was so fast.
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Questions 5-11
Complete the summary below
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the
passage for each answer
Write your answers in boxes 5-11 on
your answer sheet.
The Making of pesticide protecting
crops against insects
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The broad-leaved neem tree was chosen. It is a fast-growing and 5………………………..
tree and produces an amount of 6……………………… for itself that can be effective
like insects repellent. Firstly, neem seeds need to be crushed into
7…………………….. form, which is left behind
8…………………….. in water. Then we need to spray the solution onto the
crop. A special 9……………………… is used when mixing with soil in order to
eliminate bugs and bacteria, and its effect 10……………………… when it adds the
level of 11……………………… in this organic fertilizer meanwhile.
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Questions 12-13
Answer the questions below
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A
NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 12-13 on
your answer sheet.
12
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In which year did all the farmers use NPM for their crops in
Punukala?
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13
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What gave the women of Punukula a business opportunity to NPMs?
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