Even as the Union government is struggling to boost the country's agriculture extension system, pesticide and crop chemical manufacturers have joined hands with rural ngos to promote safe and judicious usage of pesticides among the farmers. Agrochemicals Promotion Group (apg), an apex industry body comprising over 200 crop protection companies in the country, is working closely with the Confederation of ngos in Rural India (cnri), a representative body of more than 2,000 ngos, to educate farmers in five states - Tamil Nadu, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Under the ongoing project, the apg has already created over 600 master trainers among the ngos to educate farmers in various pest management practices. In the next phase, the project will go on to cover farmers in the states of Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and Karnataka. "Our primary aim here is to educate farmers about the safe and adequate uses of pesticides and other crop protection chemicals. Due to lack of knowledge, farmers often fail to adopt right pest management practices and this not only leads to poor outcome but also results in wastage," says S. Kumarasamy, chairman, apg, which represents three associations -Crop Care Federation of India (ccfi), Crop Life India (cli) and Pesticides Manufacturers and Formulators Association of India (pmfai). According to market sources, the country loses agriculture produce worth around Rsl40,000 crore every year, on account of pest attacks and other plant-related diseases. Experts are of the view that, if adequate pesticide management practices are followed, not only can these losses be restricted to a large extent, but the overall agriculture productivity can also be boosted by 20-25 per cent. "Due to lack of awareness, poor farmers often feel that more the pesticide they use the more production they reap. In fact, that's not the case. Usage of pesticides is a complex process and has to be followed with right kind of doses and applications. In India, we waste as much as 5-7 per cent of pesticides," states an agriculture scientist. Currently, only 25 per cent of the total agriculture land of 180 million hectares in the country is treated with crop protection chemicals. "We need to cover more area under protection through introduction of latest technologies. Farmers can be assured of over five times returns on the money invested on pesticides. Knowledge about these benefits has to reach the farmers," says Kumarasamy, who feels that it is high time that the Union government comes out with a policy framework that can go on to boost the state extension system. "In the absence of clear policy guidelines, the Centre can do little to revive the poor extension in states." "There is need to rope in private agencies and ngos to strengthen our existing extension system, which has completely failed to deliver. Today, transfer of technology is hindered to a great extent, restricting the research and technology within the boundaries of labs," warns an agriculture consultant. All this apart, the group is also in the process of tying up with fruits and vegetables growers' associations, to help the exporters to enhance their presence in the global market. "Our scientists and consultants teach the growers as to how they can keep the level of pesticide residue within the permissible limits and explore the opportunities in the exports," states the APG chief.