Fake pesticides endanger crops and human health in India

A farmer harvesting cotton at Nani Kadi village in Gujarat on Oct 20.PHOTO: REUTERS

FARIDABAD, India (Reuters) - Millions of unsuspecting Indian farmers are spraying fake pesticides onto their fields, contaminating soil, cutting crop yields and putting both food security and human health at risk in the country of 1.25 billion people.

The use of spurious pesticides has exacerbated losses in the genetically modified (GM) cotton crop in northern India after an attack by whitefly, a pest, say officials. If unchecked, some of India's roughly $26 billion in annual farm exports could be hit.