SUMMARY
The Delhi government had claimed that it did not have adequate laboratories and could currently test for only 28 varieties of pesticides.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued draft regulations for food imports and may soon make it mandatory for importers of food and vegetables to produce test reports from authorised labs to ensure pesticide remains in fruits and vegetableswere within prescribed limits.
With the Delhi High Court monitoring the issue of pesticides in food in a PIL, the Central government has filed a status report on the measures recommended by an expert committee created on court orders to suggest methods to contain the problem.
On Wednesday, during a hearing before the court of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw, the Ministry of Agriculture filed two affidavits before the court regarding the steps taken by the government on the report filed by amicus curiae Sanjay Jain, as well as the expert committee.
“Department of Agriculture and Cooperation has decided to conduct, through its various divisions, an extensive campaign through the media to educate the public (farmers, traders and consumers) at the national level regarding the safe use of pesticides and also to conduct campaigns for safe ripening and storage of perishable fruits and vegetables,” the government affidavit said.
The affidavit further stated that the Ministry of Agriculture had “decided to extend all assistance to the state government of NCT of Delhi in setting up requisite infrastructure for enhancing its capacity to carry out sample testing of pesticides in fruits and vegetables.”
During an earlier hearing, the Delhi government had claimed that it did not have adequate laboratories and could currently test for only 28 varieties of pesticides.
The ministry has also started broadcasting programmes on agriculture including “safe use of pesticides” on Doordarshan/All India Radio under Krishi Darshan to spread awareness among farmers and consumers.
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