Glyphosate

Subject: Science and tech

Context:

With Bayer’s $10.9-billion settlement in US, there may be rise in demand for glyphosate ban in India

Concept:

• First developed in 1970, glyphosate is scientifically N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine under the IUPAC system of nomenclature.
• It is applied to the leaves of plants to kill weeds.

Working:

• As a non-selective herbicide (affecting a broad spectrum of weeds indiscriminately), glyphosate works by blocking an essential pathway for plant growth. Once absorbed by the plant, glyphosate binds to and blocks the activity of an enzyme called enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS).
• The EPSPS enzyme comes at the start of the shikimic acid pathway. By blocking this pathway, the plant cannot create certain proteins that are needed for growth.

India:

• According to a 2016 bulletin published by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the weedkiller in India goes by various brand names, including Roundup, Glycel, and Brake.
• Glyphosate was highly accepted by the tea planters in the past two decades. It has a very good market size in the tea sector of West Bengal and Assam.
• Presently, the consumption of glyphosate is highest in Maharashtra as it is becoming a key herbicide in sugarcane, maize and many fruit crops including mango, banana, grapes, pomegranate and citrus.
• In 2015, the Word Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer published a study that found glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to humans”. Activists have been campaignig against glyphosate-based products.