In the rural heartland of Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Environment and the World Health Organization (WHO) have wrought an important change in the mindset of the rice farmers, with regard to the safe disposal of agro-chemical containers to protect ‘our planet’ and safeguard ‘our health’.
This is an important intervention as World Health Day 2022 draws close with its theme ‘Our Planet, Our Health – Clean our air, water and food’.
Do not dump the containers, both bottles and plastic bags, anywhere and everywhere after using the agrochemicals. This was what farmers of the Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura Districts in the North Central Province, a major paddy-growing area of the country, were made aware of, along with information on how to recycle these containers.
These activities were launched under the program of ‘Sustainable environmental management by means of recycling of waste’ at different administrative levels of the district – percolating right down to the grassroots.
These awareness programs underscoring the importance of not dumping toxic plastic waste which could result in contamination especially of the waterways, were held at district and divisional secretariat levels and also at village level. It was at village level that the participants included farmers.
To enable the strengthening of awareness programs by action and a way forward, Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers was lobbied and ‘An empty agrochemical container collection week’ declared in the two cultivation seasons of Yala and Maha starting this year. It will be carried out under the guidance of the Office of the Registrar of Pesticides with whom the Ministry of Environment, Crop Life Sri Lanka and WHO Sri Lanka have been working closely on this issue.
Other action to encourage farmer groups not to discard these containers randomly include a proposal to establish low-cost agrochemical container collecting centers at the Agrarian Service Center level within the North Central Province and introduce a computer application (APP) to enhance such collection on time at least cost.
It is hoped that after the District Agriculture Committees give an insight on the importance of collecting, cleaning and handing over agrochemical containers to collection centers, farmers would integrate this crucial task in their Season Resolutions (KannaTheenduTheeranaya).
This would not only help to ensure the continuity of this important activity to protect the environment but also create a ripple effect with more districts across Sri Lanka following suit.
Photo credit – Thisal Gunarathne – photographer Splash.com creative commons