NEW DELHI: High doses of antibiotics, that are vital for human beings, are being used “routinely” and “indiscriminately” in crops by farmers in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab like pesticides, a new study claimed.
The study, conducted by environment think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), was released on Wednesday to mark the World Antibiotic Awareness Week (November 18 to 24).
“Farmers along the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi, Hisar in Haryana and Fazilka in Punjab were found to be using streptocycline, a 90:10 combination of streptomycin and tetracycline, routinely and indiscriminately in high doses in crops, including on those crops which they not approved for,” the CSE said.
CSE Director General Sunita Narain, who was a member of the United Nations Interagency Coordination Group on anti microbial resistance (AMR), said, “We strongly feel that concrete and timely action is required by central and state governments to contain AMR, particularly from animal and environmental routes.”
Amit Khurana, programme director, Food and Toxins programme, CSE, said, “We found that farmers are unaware about the recommended use and spray antibiotics frequently like pesticides as a regular practice.”
In humans, streptomycin is used to treat bacterial infections like tuberculosis (TB). It is also used in multidrug-resistant TB patients and in certain cases of TB meningitis (brain TB).
“Resistance to streptomycin is quite high and its large scale non-human use could add to the problem. The World Health Organization classifies it as a critically important antibiotic for humans,” the study said. (AGENCIES)
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