Herbicide spraying Red Bean 03 "Wandan Peasant Association: if the government wants to think clearly, will it deter consumers from buying red beans if it is open to fix and kill weeds?"

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Wen/Upstream and downstream reporters Li Huiyi, Lin Yijun

In recent years, the government has been pushing for friendly materials to replace herbicides as ormosia defoliants. However, less than four months after the herbicide paraquat was banned, the government opened up the herbicide as ormosia defoliants, triggering criticism that "pesticide policy has gone backwards" and will cause environmental and food safety risks. In the face of external doubts, the press release of the Bureau of Prevention and Inspection stated: "The opening of solacidin is to reflect the needs of farmers in the field," but at the same time stressed that "in field practice, farmers will use non-listed materials such as nonanoic acid to replace pesticide use." Contradictory statements.

What kind of "field practice" will appear after the opening of the grass? "Upstream and downstream" reporters visited the pesticide line of origin, responsible person said in unison, as long as an open solid killing grass, farmers will not use nonanoic acid and sodium chlorate,"farmers at most buy more nonanoic acid reluctantly used, or take nonanoic acid mixed solid killing grass, after that will not use."

Chang Chih-lieh, director general of the Farmers 'Association of Wantan Township in Pingtung County, the largest ormosia producing area, says that ormosia is the life of farmers, and bean farmers absolutely do not want the ormosia industry to collapse. The government must think clearly: Opening up the grass may make it easier for farmers to cultivate, but will it affect the back-end marketing? Do consumers dare not buy domestic red beans?

Wantan Harvest Society, which uses Wantan red beans to make ormosia cakes (Photo_Lin Yijun) Farmers: Open solid weed highlights forbidden paraquat error

Whether it's Pingtung's Wantan or agricultural settlements in nearby towns, apart from small pharmacies, beauty salons, vegetable stalls, supermarkets, and betel nut stalls, the most common street is a pesticide store. As soon as he entered the door, he was greeted by a variety of brands lined up in a row. Mrs. Li, owner of a pesticide company that has been operating for ten years, says,"Since the government banned paraquat at the beginning of this year, it has become one of farmers 'favorite herbicides, and it is also the first choice for ormosia defoliants."

Mrs. Hsu, owner of a pesticide company that has been in business for 18 years, says that in order to ban paraquat, the government began promoting the use of nonanoic acid the year before last, but the drying effect was poor, and when the leaves dried and the branches did not dry, farmers had to return to paraquat. By the beginning of this year, when red beans were harvested, many farmers no longer had paraquat on hand, so they switched back to carbendazim.

"We have a lot of farmers here who mix clopramide with sodium chlorate," said Mr. Xie, a farmer who lives in the Dahu community of Pingtung City. Li Chin-chuan, founder of the first red bean production and marketing team in Pingtung, says,"This policy is wrong. If it's to be changed, it has to be changed back to Parakui." He further states that the government's decision to liberalize herbicides highlights the mistake of banning paraquat. Even if the government wants to respond to farmers 'decision to liberalize herbicides, it must re-open paraquat, which is cheap, quick to break down, and has less impact on the environment.