Pesticide use in Türkiye at alarming level: Report

ISTANBUL

The agricultural sector in Türkiye utilizes pesticides to an alarming extent, reaching approximately 60,000 tons each year, reveals a report by a German non-governmental organization.

Presented to the public at a meeting in Istanbul on Oct. 11, the report titled "Facts and Figures about Pesticides in Agriculture: The Pesticide Atlas" by the Heinrich Böll Association asserted that half of the pesticide usage in Türkiye is concentrated in the southern provinces of Adana, Antalya, Aydın and Mersin and the western provinces of İzmir, Bursa and Manisa.

Despite the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry banning several types of pesticides known to be toxic, their widespread use persists in various agricultural products.

Food engineer Dr. Bülent Şık highlighted the alarming global surge in pesticide usage, emphasizing that children are most affected by the pesticides and their residues.

The report revealed that approximately 385 million pesticide poisoning cases occur worldwide each year, leading to the direct loss of 11,000 lives annually.

The Pesticide Atlas underscored the occurrence of heart, lung or kidney failure in those exposed to pesticides, as well as a significant increase in severe health conditions such as Parkinson's disease, leukemia, lung and breast cancer and hormonal imbalances due to the impact of pesticides.

Moreover, the report noted that pesticides have accelerated the extinction of beneficial insects, leading a 41 percent decline in populations of these insects.