By Robert Carmichael
DPA
Phnom Penh – In 2001, Cambodia introduced a law requiring that all pesticides carry labels in Khmer, the local language.
The logic was simple enough: All pesticides were imported and very few farmers could read the instructions. That posed a significant public health risk.
But 10 years on the law is widely ignored, says agronomist and pesticides expert Keam Makarady: Just 30 of more than 800 pesticides carry instructions in Khmer.
‘So it is difficult for farmers to know what kind of pesticides they use, and also the direction for (their) safe use,’ he says.
The result, as a Danish study has found, is that farmers are being poisoned at work.
Please click here to read more...
The logic was simple enough: All pesticides were imported and very few farmers could read the instructions. That posed a significant public health risk.
But 10 years on the law is widely ignored, says agronomist and pesticides expert Keam Makarady: Just 30 of more than 800 pesticides carry instructions in Khmer.
‘So it is difficult for farmers to know what kind of pesticides they use, and also the direction for (their) safe use,’ he says.
The result, as a Danish study has found, is that farmers are being poisoned at work.
Please click here to read more...
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