Guwahati: Banned chemicals are still used by farmers in Assam, recommended doses are overlooked and farmers of commercially-growing pockets adopt very high doses over the prescribed limit, says a draft agriculture policy 2018 prepared by the BJP-led government in the state.

It says: "Farmers prefer blanket dose of fertilisers without taking into account the soil and crop requirements and thus fertiliser-use efficiency is low. The economic threshold level is not looked into, prophylactic measures are not adopted and there is a gap in adoption of integrated pest-management technologies and bio products, pesticide residues in food products, fodders and water are emerging as major issues."

The revelations came at a time Seema Bhuyan, a lawyer, had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in Gauhati High Court recently, calling for restriction or ban on excessive use of pesticides, stating that this results in contamination of food items and cause serious ailments such as cancer.

The draft says: "Nutrient mining for exploitive agriculture is not an issue in Assam, but there are reports that sub-standard or spurious fertilisers are being made available to farmers in some pockets of commercial crop-growers. Non-availability of some fertilisers, particularly phosphoric fertilisers, at the peak season of requirement are also reported occasionally. But application of fertiliser on the basis of soil-testing report or soil health card has started now only."

The draft says consumption of fertiliser is high in vegetable-growing pockets and tea gardens.

All initiatives will be taken to motivate farmers to go for fertiliser application based on soil health card and nutrient requirement, including micro-nutrients of specific crops they want to grow.

The draft policy also expressed concern over growing use of high breed varieties of seeds which are fast replacing the traditional practice of maintaining a part of their produce as seeds for the next season.