The Cotton-Growing Bears No External Interference

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-Vahid-muallim, for some time past there frequent cases of poisoning of agricultural workers on cotton fields. Every day there are news of mass poisonings on cotton fields in various regions of the country. What are reasons of the accidents?

- It should be noted that despite the long period after the first accident the appropriate structures have made no public specific reasons of mass poisoning. Note that poisonings occurred due to the use of pesticides. So it is necessary to clarify what kind of pesticide-herbicide-insecticide wass used? Why did poisoning take place: as a result of fighting against pests of fields, plant diseases or, finally, extermination of weeds? It is very important to find out this fact because farmers and villagers will thus be informed of problems thery have to face or hope to avoid in future. Regretfully, there is not an itelligible answer to the question: why did it become possible. What preparation was used to poison people? How is the preparation called? No information on the matter is available. Thus, the accident took place in Saatly on June 10. But it was possible to investigate the accident the same day. To get to the bottom of what caused the poisoning, it would take 2-3 hours from experts to clarify the situation. It would be easy to establish what preparations were used by a cotton landowner. For this to happen, it was necessary to take samples and identify at laboratories not only the composition of the substance but a dose used; was not it surpassed, etc? Was there a substance harmful for humans? All the mentioned procedures could have easily be made at laboratory conditions. Besides, it was necessary to inform the public about the accident to thus clarify the situation. As has been noted above, information of this sort is important to persuade farmers and landowners avoid applying chemicals of this sort on their plots and in the subsequent stasges of cotton development.

- Frankly speaking, I"ve never faced facts of this sort. Perhaps, you must have faced identical cases in the Soviet epoch. In a case like that, who is responsible for the accident?

- First of all, I"d like to note that no cases of this sort had occurred both 1500 years ago and recently, in the Soviet period of Azerbaijan. I"ve no information about cases of this sort in other countries. It is for the first time that the case of this sort has ever been happened in Azerbaijan. Regretfully, this happens in our country regularly. As for responsibility, I"d like to emphasize that till 2015 the cotton productivity in Azerbaijan was high as distinct from subsequent years; however, even these high indices were not accompanied by poisoning cases or any other emergencies. Yes, chemical agents were used enormously, productivity was high, products of high quality and exported abroad, and the country had currency earnings regularly. Following decrease in investments from oil sales into the branch since 2015, a special emphasis has been laid on the development of the branch and appropriate documents signed. President Ilham Aliyev declasred that hundreds of millions pf dollars are allocated every year for the development of the cotton-growing in the country. And what do we have? The 2015 indices are illustrative that periods of validity of herbicides, as well as of chemical preparations to fight weeds have expired as far back as in 2012. This notwithstanding, the said pesticides were given to farmers as saying that they might applly overdoses. Farmers were told that their validity had expired, so they could raise their doses and thus intensify their effect. I informed the public about the situation in the branch. However, no measdures had been taken, and the cotton productivity goes on falling.. It is safe to say that persons engaged in the branch sustained damages worth 10 million manats. The cotton branch became a mischief for farmers and villagers. The state granted large companies about 50-60 thousand hectares of pastures for the cotton-growing. At present, these companies are engaged in planting cotton on these lands. However, initially the pastures were unliable to the cotton-growing. Note that the sowing was to be carried out only after certain operations on the plots. In other words, it was necessary to apply fertilizers in the soil and then start sowing. Unfortunately, the sowing campaign failed to start, and the fertility of cotton soils proved to be low and seedlings feeble. They are easily affected by pests, often fall ill. Self-defence mechanism of plants is ineffective. For this reason farmers have to secure their farms against pests. With chemical preparations ith expired period of validy, they have tto apply overdoses of chemicals which poses a real threat to their lives and health. The use of these chemical is dangerous not only for humand but other living creatures as well. In other words, suffer not only humans but environmernt, soils and animals as well. It is the current authorities that bear resposibility for the present situation. Tjhe question is that after 2015 the state has taken control over the cotton development in the country to comply with adminstrative methods of management. It is not surprising that the Ministry of Agriculture, government officials and small functionaries of budgetary organizations were responsible for the problem resolution.. Unfortunately, it was reported that the Ministry qualified its mission put through and thus declined responsibility for the accident.The question is that persons and sdtructures concerned are responsible not only for the situation afield but environmental damage as well due to failure to carry out laboratory studies into chemical preparations and lack of appropriate export opinons. It was necessary to carry out an explanatory work and then continue work under a cerastin control. The Ministry has its branches in all the regions of the country with appropriate personnel. Though regional functionaries are not responsible for work organization, they should, nevertheless, keep check upon the process. They drew no obvious conclusions from the first fact of poisoning. It was not surprising that poisonings continued. Since June 10 and present, poisonings occurred in 5 regions. However, no matter of responsibility for the situation in the branch has so far been raised. Most probably, the blame will be laid on landowners even despite the fact that they are not guilty of what has happened: they were unaware that preparations contained substances harmful for human organism. Error could have happened in one region only; however, they repeated themselves in 5 regions. Hence, a matter of responsibility has to be sought at another, higher level. The point here is about the Ministry of Agriculture or another, yet-unknown person or structure. It is essentional to identify those guilty of the accident; those having afforded negligence. The government incurs a great liability and has no right to evade it.

-Is the cotton-growing an utterly important branch of the agricultural production that large-scale poisonings take place from time to time? Is it possible to argue that people"s lives run into danger not coincidentally?

-There are a lot of options in Azerbaijan to cast slurs upon various spheres of activity, either cotton-growing or something else. The preparation could have been applied in other spheres as well, even in overdose, and thus have destroyed a full branch of agriculture. It is essential to seek a guilty party not in the cotton-growing or plant cultivation but among those guilty of
culpable negligence. The cotton-growing is a very profitable sphere of activity; it is possible to develop the branch and gain huge incomes, provided the state does not interfere with the process. It is a matter of farmers and landowners who have since olden times been engaged in the process and can currently develop their business. What should the state do? The state should enable them to get to the market. They should process the products, create cooperatives and joint ventures, manufacture clothes, other household articles, sell their products at the market. They should gain income while the state should earn currency. In other words, the branch might be rather profitable bnut upon the sole condition: the state cannot interfere. The state may act as an aide capable of curing problems, in particular, a question of water which farmers and villagers have to face rather often.

-Some people are inclined to accuse pharmaceutical companies; others - local functionaries. What can you say about it? Whose fault is it?

-To my thinking, it"d be wrong to accuse anybody specifically until results of the investigation are made public. The question is that those having applied the preparation cannot bear responsibility for its quality. There are specific structures in charge of product quality control. Thus, agricultural specialists from the Ministry of Agriculture were to establish the quality of imported chemical preparation and keep a check on its application. For this reason it"d be wrong to seek a guilty without clarifying the issue. Everything is under a veil of mystery. When asdjusted for lack of necessary information, one might accuse anybody or nobody particularly.

-There an assumption that the accident is none other than a provocation arranged by a criminal group and directed against the Minister. Is such an assumption probable?

-At present, there is a factor causing grave doubts. Even if anybody is devicing a provocation against the Minister, he is greatly mistaken. The questin is that the Minister does not claim to be a profession in the field which is rather complex and.problematical. For this reason, the Minister cannot ensure progress in the given branch; instead, all his attempts to improve the situation risk increasingly aggravating the branch irrespective of who are his aides, either from Holland of America. That"s why the problem is specific. It is possible to develop the branch with the held of local specialists. In other words, over-hasty actions of the authorities on this track may impede the course of natural development of the cotton-growing. It was a gross error to appoint a non-professional to act as Minister without an appropriate experience and a special education. No cases of this sort are found in CIS countries. It is unprecedented where a lawyer is appointed a Minister of Agriculture and nonprofessionals in the sphere as his deputies.

For about 30 years the Gyandja State Institute of Agriculture fails to bring up a generation of highly qualified agricultural cadres. There is a precisious little of highly qualified GSIA graduates. Moreover, even these few professionals are shot out of the process. As a result, persons currently engaged in the Ministry of Agriculture have no appropriate diplomas and adequate experience in the cotton-growing. So it"d be naive to expect high results in the branch. I do not believe that all these are purposeful actions impeding the effectiveness of the work. At any rate, the branch is sure to get retarded in its development. It is no mere coincidence that no positive shifts are apparent at the moment.

-What do you suggest to improve the situation? Is there any use in developing the cotton-growing? If yes, what steps should be taken on this track? Is there any positive experience to adopt? And instead, if there is no use in developing the cotton-growing, then what agricultural crop could replace it?

-In general, the government should interfere with the process and decline from applying administrative methods of branch development. In other words, the government cannot put obstackes in landowners" way. In this respect, it is inadmissible to create favorable conditions for monopolism formation in product export. It is essential to promote the branch on the basis of requests of farmerms and countrymen and ensure favorable conditions for farmers to avoid difficulties in their work. Also, it is necessary to gain profitability of landfarming, produce competitive products and import it to the world market. Or process and produce products inside the country and then offer products at higher prices. It is necessary to creat appropriate conditions having no reliance on other countries" experience. Note that there are farmers who get 6 tons of cotton per hectare. The point is about the world record. Given the favorablte conditions and the lack of obstacle, it is possible to give a decisive impetus to the development of the cotton growing in Azerbaijan, so that nobody will never get poisoned and well-being and prosperity will make happy any houses. That will happen in case where the government and the authorities cease interfering with the process an an attempt to make it come-and-go-manner and thus over-emphasize their achievements. The problem is that this branch of the national economy is in position to develop independently, without outside interference. There is a sufficient number of highly qualified and properly trained professionals in the branch. Should the authorities cease intefering with the process, the situation would change for the better, and the cotton-growing will strongly be motivated to make step forward.