As a result, to protect our farmers and their land, sustainable farming and their safety are critical. The key problems for examining alternatives for ergonomics intervention and betterment of work in crop-producing activities include work drudgery, traumatic accidents, and injuries. While farm automation is more prevalent in northern India, accidents are more prevalent in southern India’s communities.
Every year, it is estimated that over 7.6 lakh agricultural accidents occur in India, resulting in the deaths of about 45,000 workers and injury to others. The country’s economic damage is anticipated to be around Rs. 5400 crores. Every day, there are 2080 agricultural accidents with 120 fatalities.
Aspects of occupational health include Health Problems Caused by Excess Vibrations Dose, Noise Exposure Problem Respiratory Diseases Caused by Dust Chemical Exposure, Negative Effects of Pesticide Spraying, Musculoskeletal disorders, Weather circumstances that are out of the ordinary.
In partnership with the Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, an agricultural accident survey was conducted in 2004-07 and 2012-13. The overall number of incidents reported during a year was 30.5 percent due to farm machines, 34.2 percent owing to hand tools, and 35.3 percent due to other causes (such as snake bites, drowning in wells/ponds, animal bites, and lightning).
About 31% of agricultural machinery accidents were caused by tractors and tractor-operated equipment, 22% by animal-drawn equipment, 14% by threshers, 12% by electric motor/pump sets, 9% by chaff cutters, 6% by power tillers, 4% by sprayers, and 2% by other machines.
Therefore, Tractors, threshers, electrical motors, and pump sets, chaff cutters, power tillers, sprayers, and animal-drawn equipment are among the items that require rapid care.
Observing proper safety measures while handling Crop Protection products is an extremely important issue that often gets ignored in India. BASF is deeply committed to the farming community in India and felt that there was a great need to address this issue.
With this as a background BASF India – Crop Protection Solution Division, launched the ‘Suraksha Hamesha’ – Safety at all times campaign in May 2016. The goal was to teach farmers how to use Crop Protection products and personal protection measures responsibly in nine steps.
We promote appropriate and ethical management of crop protection goods throughout their full lifecycle through this effort.
With the challenges for agriculture safety in India, Our objective, for now, should be based on Increasing worker productivity without endangering their health and safety in numerous agricultural and related operations, Reducing drudgery, encouraging Agricultural growth that is inclusive, and involving agricultural workers as partners in the development process.
Also Read: Access To Market Info; A Major Factor For A Flourishing Agriculture
