SUVA, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Fijian government decided to ban the use of paraquat, insecticide and imidacloprid from January 2020, a Fijian minister said on Friday.
According to Fijivillage news website on Friday, Fiji's Minister for Agriculture Mahendra Reddy said there will be no importation, sale or use of these chemicals from Jan. 1, 2020 and the importers have been informed about this decision.
He said the concerns about these chemicals were brought to the ministry over a decade ago.
The government was concerned about the negative effect of paraquat on agriculture and on farmers, which has been a problem for the ministry over a decade ago, he said, adding that it has been found that the chemical had health effects on where it contacts the body and was disastrous for a person.
Research also showed that paraquat residue in the soil can stay for more than 100 days, contaminating water sources like wells and boreholes.
He said the entire European Union (EU) and even the South Pacific island nation of Samoa have banned paraquat, a toxic plant killer that is widely used primarily for weed and grass control.
Reddy said they have received a submission from the Fiji Beekeepers Association that imidacloprid also has a negative effect on the bees.
The minister said it has been proven that this chemical has been contributing towards the reduction of the colony of bees and the residue of this chemical has also been found in honey.
In 2017, the agriculture ministry did not support the ban on paraquat in Fiji because the chemical was one of two major weedicides used by farmers, especially in taro production.
At the time about 40,000 farmers depended on taro for their livelihood and banning paraquat means to pay more for weed management in their farms.
