While on the one hand, spread of the scab infection was affecting nearly 40 percent of the standing crops of farmers in Kashmir, based on last year’s figures, on the other hand, a demand with due stress from them towards stopping the sale of spurious and sub-standard pesticides and chemicals by unscrupulous traders , in the valley was raised frequently. However, it was decided to set up two state-of- the -art pesticide testing laboratories in North and South Kashmir to resolve the issue. So far, due to the absence of administrative approval, the labs are not set up. Since dependence for the purpose is largely and solely on laboratories from outside Jammu and Kashmir , an undue delay is generally caused on seeking reports on the samples which mostly reach after the peak period of spraying season is gone in the valley thus the crops becoming vulnerable to various diseases. Since obviously such reports should reach the farming community well before the onset of the spraying season, the two laboratories are thus needed urgently. The concerned authorities, as such , are required to accord approval to the same at an early date. Hundreds of products from various companies are available in the valley but generally they are selling the sub-standard and even spurious chemicals . No arrangement existing to verifying and subjecting to checking and the levels of genuineness of such products could be done only by the proposed labs which should be set up at the earliest and not made hostage to the red-tape of administrative process.
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