State Governments of Punjab and Haryana have banned the use of harmful pesticides. However, several experts believe that the ban imposed on the use of harmful pesticides should not only be restricted to two states, instead it should be banned nationwide to pave a smooth way for the export of grain with high food safety standards and to prevent the consumers of rice from health related issues that may arise due to the use of pesticides while sowing the crops.
In this context, Dr. Prem Garg, the National President of Indian Rice Exporters Federation (IREF) said that “Pesticides are negatively impacting the health of crops and humans as well”. He insisted on the complete ban of the use of pesticides. Dr. Garg further added that “use of pesticides are harmful for exports sector as European Union, including other nations such as US, Japan, Oman, Kuwait, Lebanon, and UAE have several parameters to test the standard of Basmati Rice which is exported from India. Countries are repetitively rejecting basmati rice from India due to pesticide residues exceeding the prescribed MRLs of the importing country”. Dr. Garg said that “Rejection of exported basmati rice has led to a substantial loss of export business, reputational damage, and a decline in India’s market share”.
To address this issue on a global platform and educate farmers about the harmful effects of pesticides on crops Dr. Prem Garg, National President of Indian Rice Exporters Federation (IREF), informed that IREF is organizing the Bharat International Rice Conference (BIRC) 2025 on October 30 & 31st, 2025 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi which will be attended by more than 1000 foreign buyers, exporters, and rice industry leaders.
Dr. Garg stressed on the complete ban of the use of pesticides and highlighted the role of IREF in holding a meeting with The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and other key ministries under the state and central government to ban the use of pesticides with immediate effect.