CropLife India Conducts Workshop on Crop Grouping Principles

CropLife India , an association of 17 R&D driven crop science companies, and the leading voice of the plant science industry in India, conducted a Workshop on “Crop Grouping principles for establishment of National MRLs” today.

- 

The absence of label claims for spices, fruits, leafy vegetables etc. leave farmers with limited pest management options. In addition, they bear the risk of rejection in international trade on account of off-label use of the agrochemical and the absence of country MRLs. This workshop will be a milestone in urging the Government of India to discourage offlabel use of agrochemicals through implementation of crop grouping scheme. As per an estimate, out of 554 crops grown in India, more than 85 per cent of crops, due to less acreage or commercial value, don’t have the label claim of Crop Protection Products (CPP”s); which leads to off-label use. The implementation of Crop Grouping Principles is the need of the hour; which is part of globally accepted norms. In various countries like USA, EU, Japan and Australia, Crop Grouping Principles were implemented long back which has provided huge benefits to the farmers of those countries. It was a request from the crop protection industry for a long time and a lot of deliberation has been held with the technical experts on the same. Dr P. K. Singh, Agriculture Commissioner & Chairman - Registration Committee, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare highlighted, “The challenges and opportunities in implementing crop grouping principles in India, is the complexity of India’s diverse climatic conditions; from tropical to temperate, varying rainfall, different soils, and a variety of crops and inter-crops; which makes it crucial to adopt a holistic approach.” Dr Singh emphasized the importance of concrete outcomes from the workshop, noting, “We have accomplished a lot in this direction, and I hope the concrete deliberations and proceedings from this workshop will help finalize the pointers for the Crop Grouping Government Committee. It is high time we adopt the proceedings of the crop grouping committee. We need to come to a consensus and create plans to ensure no more time or investment is wasted on these studies.” Dr