Rohit Shishodia
In a shocking revelation, a study conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab has revealed that farmers are using combinations of streptomycin, a drug for treating TB in humans, to grow fruits, vegetables and rice.

According to the findings of the study, 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 crops they are not approved for.

Mr Amit Khurana, Director, Food and Toxins Program, 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 for previously-treated tuberculosis (TB) patients, who make up over 10 per cent of the total estimated TB incidence in India. It is also used in multidrug-resistant TB patients and in certain cases of TB meningitis (brain TB),” added Mr Khurana.

Resistance to streptomycin is quite high and its large scale non-human use could add to the problem. The World Health Organization classifies this medicine as a critically important antibiotic for humans.

“Antibiotics are becoming ineffective as bacteria-causing infections are getting resistant to the antibiotics that are being used to kill them. Bacterial infections, which are quite common in India, are becoming difficult to treat or completely untreatable, leading to a huge health and economic burden,” he explained.

Mr Khurana further said, “The health ministry’s ban on using colistin in food-producing animals is a welcome step. But to limit AMR from this sector, it is imperative that no medically important antibiotic is allowed to be used for promoting growth of food animals.”

Antibiotic pollution into the environment through waste from point sources such as pharmaceutical manufacturing units is another area of huge concern. It is known to escalate resistance in the environment, which can pass on to humans. Therefore, antibiotics in such waste should be considered and treated as hazardous chemicals.

“For over a year and half, a draft of standards for residual antibiotics in industrial effluents is under review of the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change. It is time that these standards are notified and made enforceable,” stated Khurana.

“TB continues to be a public health crisis in our country. We must find a solution to avoid such widespread and negligent use of streptomycin in crops” said Sunita Narain, Director General, CSE.

Narain added, “Considering the progress made so far, we strongly feel that concrete and timely action is required by Central and state governments to contain AMR, particularly from animal and environmental routes.”