The Green Revolution is Over
By B. McPherson An Indian court has ruled that the banned pesticide endosulfan can be exported in spite of the government’s ban on its manufacture, sales and usage. With a cavalier disregard to other people’s safety, one of the chief justices was quoted in the Environmental Justice Foundation web page: Chief Justice S H Kapadia said, “Our main concern is that we don’t want our people to suffer…Why should this material lie on Indian soil? If some countries are willing to import it, we should go for it.” Endosulfan was introduced to the world in the early 50s as part of the Green Revolution. It was widely used on food crops, potatoes and vegetables. India has been a major producer and user of this chemical but the government has recently instituted a complete ban on its use, manufacture or sale. The manufactures have unsold stocks of the pesticide and lobbied the courts to be able to send the poison to countries that are not respecting the ban. Canada and the US hav...