☠️ Pesticides on all sides

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Mato Grosso politicians approve pesticide free-for-all

State lawmakers in Mato Grosso approved a bill last week that cuts back crucial limits on the use of pesticides on farms, in what is just the latest instance of the legislature in Brazil’s agro-powerhouse state favoring the sector with sweeping legal changes.

In short, the approved bill expands the area on which farmers can apply potentially harmful pesticides, reducing the size of buffer zones between rural properties and other farms, bodies of water or even villages. 

A 2009 state decree established that farmers can only apply pesticides on their property at a minimum distance of 300 meters (328 yards) from cities, villages and drinking water reservoirs, 200m from springs and 150m from other water reservoirs, isolated dwellings and flocks of animals.

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