Coimbatore
Says Levels Excessive Than Permitted, Imposes Curbs On Procurement
The Kerala government has put curbs on traders procuring vegetables from Tamil Nadu after it found that pesticide levels in the vegetables were higher than the permissible limits.
Kerala's food safety department has written to Tamil Nadu's agriculture and food safety department saying “pesticides were being used excessively in vegetables produced in Tamil Nadu and sent to Kerala“.
The vegetables were collected by Kerala government officials during a visit to Tamil Nadu two months ago.“We did receive the letter, but it did not specify the names of vegetables that were found having high pesticide content or the names of pesticides found above permissible limits,“ said TN food safety commissioner Kumar Jayanth.
The absence of specifics has prompted the agriculture department authorities to collect samples of vegetables from 15 districts for testing at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University .
“It would take around 15 days to get the lab results because we are going to test vegetables for all the pesticides and chemicals available in the market,“ said an agriculture officer in Coimbatore.
Meanwhile, officials of the Tamil Nadu agriculture department have swung into an overdrive to prevent excessive use of chemical pesticides by farmers. The officials are busy organising workshops for farmers in block and district levels. “We are addressing farmers in groups of 25 and 30 and requesting them to use only the amount of pesticides prescribed,“ said a horticulture department officer.
Horticulture officers admitted that farmers often use pesticides five to 10 times more than the permissible level. “There are around 228 registered pesticides of which around 110 are used by farmers regularly,“ said a horticulture officer, adding, “There are clear guidelines on every pesticide pack on how much can be used. But farmers tend to use more for immediate results.“
“They also use residual pesticides like methyl perathione, furadan and monocrotophus which remain in the crop for 45 days after spraying. These are banned for use on vegetables and fruits,“ said a fertilizer quality-control officer.
However, farmers defend use of pesticides saying pests can kill their crops completely. “When farmers use pesticides only in prescribed levels, they fail to kill the pests immediately , giving them time to eat parts of the crop and multiply ,“ Coimbatore secretary of Tamil Nadu Farmers' Association A K Andasamy said.
The issue started two months ago when a few officials from Kerala visited a few polyhouses and markets in Tamil Nadu and collected samples of vegetables and tested them in their own labs.“The Kerala government has been promoting organic farming for paddy and vegetables since 2010 by offering farmers incentives like organic certification and setting up organic markets,“ said K Radhakrishnan, a banana plantation owner in Kottayam.
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