The minister of environment, housing and urban development, Mrs. Harima Tayo Alao has expressed optimism that 900 million people would be fed adequately if suitable measures were put in place to control the 35% of world crops being lost to pests, plant diseases and weeds.

Mrs. Alao stated this at the just concluded one-day sensitization workshop for farmers and key agricultural officers on pesticide utilization in the north central geo-political zone organized by consumer protection council in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Environment Housing and urban Development held in Makurdi, the capital of Benue State.

According to the minister, an estimated one third of the global agricultural production valued at several billion dollars is destroyed annually by over 20,000 species of field and storage pests.

“The synthetic pesticides widely used for control are valued for their effectiveness.  However, they cause serious problems, foremost among these is toxicity with an estimated 3,000,000 or more cases of pesticide poisoning annually, 20,000 of which proved fatal and cause pollution of soils, water and air, with as yet unknown long term consequences for human, wild life and the environment”.

While pointing out that some chemicals being used as crop and seed protectants are highly toxic to humans, wild life and environment she stressed the need to develop safer substitutes.

Also speaking, Governor Gabriel Suswam said the use of Agro-Chemical and its importance in ensuring economic yield within the agricultural sub-sector can not be over emphasized.

Represented by his Deputy, Chief Steven Lawani, the governor assured that the state government would continue to encourage farmers not only in providing adequate materials including pesticide but also in the provision of technical assistance in the areas of training to improve capacity within the sector.