Manikganj activists demand ban on paraquat, hazardous pesticides (theclimatewatch.com)

Speakers urged stronger market monitoring, farmer awareness and support for agroecology as they warned toxic pesticides threaten public health, biodiversity and safer farming in Manikganj. Environmental activists, educators, community representatives and women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh’s central Manikganj district have called for an immediate ban on the production, sale and use of highly hazardous pesticides, including paraquat, citing concerns over public health and environmental safety. The call was made at a human chain and discussion meeting held on August 11 on Beutha Road in Manikganj under the slogan, “Ban Paraquat and All Highly Hazardous Pesticides.” The programme was organised to demand pesticide-free agriculture and raise public awareness about the harmful impacts of toxic agricultural chemicals. Iqbal Hossain Kochi, joint convener of the Manikganj District Green Coalition, chaired the discussion. It was moderated by Bimal Ray, regional coordinator of the Bangladesh Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge, or BARCIK. Speakers at the event included Mo.sheim Biswas, general secretary of the district unit of JASAS; Professor Main Uddin Ahmed; Professor Moonward Hossain; Professor Anisur Rahman; retired head teacher Mirza Iskandar; Md. Harun-or-Rashid; Hossain Ali Master; Md. Masudur Rahman, head teacher of Halacha High School; Mahmud Haider Khokon, convener of the Green Coalition’s Nabogram Union...