Madhya Pradesh Enforces Centre’s Paraquat Dichloride Ban, Orders Stock Recalled and Destroyed
19 October 2026, Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh’s state government has moved to implement the Government of India’s nationwide ban on paraquat dichloride, ordering pesticide manufacturers within the state to immediately stop selling the herbicide, recall existing stock and destroy it under prescribed rules, after reports that farmers were using the chemical to rapidly dry moong (green gram) crops before harvest.
The Government of India had already cancelled all existing registration certificates for paraquat dichloride and barred new registrations under the Insecticides Act, 1968, through a central order dated September 22, 2026, that takes effect on publication in the Official Gazette. Madhya Pradesh’s Agriculture Welfare and Agriculture Development Department issued its own directive in mid-October to carry out that central ruling at the state level, instructing companies holding registration certificates for the chemical to return them to the Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee (CIB&RC), India’s national pesticide regulator, and directing an immediate halt to local sales and storage alongside the stock recall and destruction order.
The state-level push to enforce the ban follows local reports that, despite the restrictions already set by the Centre, farmers were spraying paraquat dichloride on moong to dry the crop within 24 to 72 hours, a use the chemical was never approved for, so that fields could be harvested and threshed faster. Madhya Pradesh’s order is aimed squarely at closing that enforcement gap within the state rather than introducing a separate policy of its own.
Local reporting on the order cites kidney, liver and brain damage as health risks from exposure to paraquat dichloride, along with the possibility of serious illness, including cancer, from eating contaminated moong. Reports also note there is no known antidote once the chemical enters the body. Paraquat dichloride is restricted or banned in roughly 70 countries, a point the central government cited when it cancelled the chemical’s registrations nationally.
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The backdrop to the state’s enforcement push includes a dispute over the past year between Madhya Pradesh’s government and moong growers. During the previous summer season, the state had refused to procure summer moong, citing the health risk from the drying practice, which led farmers to march from Narmadapuram to Bhopal in protest. That procurement standoff appears to have added pressure on the state to follow through on the central ban with concrete local enforcement, rather than leave compliance to manufacturers and distributors on their own timeline.
Madhya Pradesh is one of India’s largest producers of pulses, including moong, and the state’s agriculture department has advised farmers to switch to drying methods and weed control products approved by the department rather than relying on paraquat dichloride.
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