Request To Indian People From Vegetarians Of World

Author(s): Young Indian Vegetarians
Publisher: Young Indian Vegetarians

Page 44

There are about two hundred species of frog in the world. Of the sixteen species in India and Bangladesh four species of frog are used, mainly the larger Rana tigrina and R. hexadactyla. In 1973 the USA temporarily banned the import of frogs legs from India, Indonesia and Japan, due to problems with bacteria such as salmonella. Solutions of water and chlorine or 10% common salt are used to wash the frogs to help reduce this problem. India exported 1.935 tonnes to the United States in 1982
In an attempt to dispel allegations of cruelty in India a National Award was given to a researcher who came up with the idea that a 10 minute immersion in 10% sodium chloride immobilised the frogs and it was assumed to anaesthetise them. This however has been scientifically disproved, and, to the contrary a process is highly irritant and damaging to the skin of amphibians.
Peasant farmers now have had to try and compensate for the loss of this natural pest control by using pesticides, such as DDT, DNOC and other highly toxic chemicals, many of which are imported from Europe, where their use is restricted or banned. Britain, the world's third largest exporter of pesticides derived more than half its income from export sales in 1983. The EEC accounts for two-thirds of the world's pesticides exports. This growing dependence on insecticides by India and Bangladesh is being increased by the seasonal mass slaughter of hundreds of millions of bull frogs each year to provide this food delicacy, causing a growing health threat to peasants - especially children. The Head Surgeon of the Skin Clinic in Bangladesh's capital Dacca is concerned that 20% of the population suffer from skin diseases caused by contact with pesticides. "If the toxic chemicals are not reduced, we shall have to face enormous problems". According to Oxfam, 375,000 people in the Third World are poisoned - 10,000 fatally - by pesticides each year. These figures do not include chronic or longterm damage, such as cancers and birth defects. India spends 13 million pounds (rupees 200 crores) a year on the insecticide imports, more than double the amount it earns from the frogs legs trade. Across the border in Bangladesh, now the largest exporter of frogs legs, the bill for pest control has escalated to 17.5 million dollars.
For every 35 paisas (51/2 pence) earned in foreign exchange this has prevented the natural destruction of 1 kg. of agricultural pests. The surest means of exterminating an animal is to put a price on it. But there are other considerations, if only man would seek to understand the wonderful relationships in nature. Frogs control parasites which harm freshwater fish. These fish live in village ponds and keep the water clean during the dry season when water is so vital. Frogs also provide a major food source for snakes, such as the cobra and also birds of prey. The use of toxic insecticides such as DDT have caused many birds to disappear and the loss of frog spawning grounds, as well as poisoning fish. The result is that without an abundance of snakes and other predators the rodent population has increased, and in the Indian sub-continent they outnumber people by ten to one. In Bangladesh, for instance, 1.2 million tonnes of grain are eaten or spoiled by rats every year — exactly the amount that is imported to feed its starving