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The unmitigated and unregulated use of toxic pesticides persists today. Data from the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare shows about 60,000 tonnes of chemical pesticides were used annually between 2017-18 and 2021-22. Farmers are waging a multi-pronged war, forced to contend with new pests and diseases. For them, spraying more pesticides is a measure taken to “avoid the risk” of losing the crop. The European Commission sounded an alarm. The import of turmeric powder from India into the EU territories posed a ‘serious’ risk, it said. The notification came after residues of chlorpyrifos, a pesticide banned in several countries, were found in a sample tested in Germany. Chlorpyrifos was banned after scientific evidence found that it posed a direct threat to the health of children. The consequence is that consuming food contaminated with pesticides has devastating short-term and long-term impacts. A study by Pesticides Action Network-India (PAN-India) found that 56 pesticides used in India were carcinogenic. A farmer spraying coriander (Coriandrum Sativum) plants with pesticides to protect them from insects in the afternoon at Kaliganj, West Bengal; India on 15/03/2023.