Glyphosate

Why in news?

• The Union Agriculture Ministry has restricted the use of glyphosate, a widely used herbicide, to authorized pest control operators.

About Glyphosate:

• It is a herbicide used to kill weeds — undesirable plants that compete with crops for nutrients, water and sunlight. Since weeds basically grow at the expense of crops, farmers remove them manually or spray herbicides.
• It is a non-selective herbicide (kills both ally types of plants).
• It is also used to regulate plant growth and ripen specific crops.
• When applied to their leaves, it inhibits the production of a protein ‘5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS)’.
  • This enzyme, produced only by plants and microorganisms, synthesises aromatic amino acids that are necessary for their growth.

Ban on use:

• It is banned in 28 countries, including Australia, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Sri Lanka, as it may be carcinogenic (as per a WHO study) and remains as a residue in the environment for up to 6 months.

Usage of glyphosate in India:

• It is widely used in plantation agriculture.
• It is also used to control weeds in afforestation activities and in areas along irrigation channels, Railway tracks etc.
• It may also be combined with BT cotton, leading to high usage in Deccan belts.

PRACTICE QUESTION

‘Glyphosate’, recently seen in news, is used as:

(a) Cleansing agent in cosmetics

(b) Preservative in food products

(c) Water purifier

(d) Herbicide used to kill weeds

Answer