Satyamev Jayate: Aamir Khan grills pesticide maker; advocates organic farming

Zeenews Bureau

Mumbai: As Aamir Khan’s TV show ‘Satyamev Jayate’ entered the 8th episode on Sunday, expectations of viewers only grew manifold. And ever since the show’s inception, Aamir has lived upto people’s expectation of coming up with alarming issues that need appropriate solutions. In today’s episode, Aamir spoke about the harmful effects of pesticides on consumers. The actor-host highlighted how excessive use of pesticides by farmers have led to the deterioration of nutrients from food products which eventually affect the health of people, the environment and other living beings. A number of social activists graced the show and spoke about their surveys and research on food items infected by pesticides. According to them, food grains could be produced without the use of pesticides, which will also not affect the yield. Dr Ramoo was one such activist who educated farmers in Andhra Pradesh to adopt a technique that could help them cultivate crops without the use of pesticides. Doctors and scientists were also present who produced substantial evidence to prove that pesticides can trigger diseases as dangerous as cancer. However, Rajju Shroff, the CMD of United Phosphorus Limited, and the leading manufacturer of pesticides globally, had a different picture to portray. According to him, the use of pesticides alone will help farmers in cultivating crops without affecting the yield. He was hell bent on denying that pesticides are not harmful and that one must go for food products produced with the aid of chemicals. Shroff even accused activists and scientists of over exaggerating the harmful effects of pesticides and tagged them as ‘liars’. Aamir couldn’t stop controlling his laughter on Shroff’s comments. He even said that he would beg to differ from what Shroff has to say about the effects of chemicals on food crops and the environment. As the show moved to its next segment, Aamir spoke to the Chief Minister of Sikkim Pawan Chamling via video link and congratulated him for initiating complete organic farming in his state. Aamir urged the need to go for organic food products and help farmers produce them at nominal rates. He also asked the Central and the state governments to have quality check of food products regularly and also adopt organic farming method.