STEPS TAKEN FOR REDUCING PESTICIDE RESIDUES IN FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
RAJYA SABHA
Government is concerned
about contamination of pesticides in fruits and vegetables. The
following steps have been taken to reduce pesticide residues in
fruits and vegetables.
- Replacement of old pesticides
which are required to be used in high dosages and which persist
for a longer period in the environment with newer pesticide
molecules which are used in low volume and are less persistent
in the environment;
- Promotion of judicious use of
pesticides through the practice of Integrated Pest Management
(IPM) which emphasizes reduced pesticide application;
- Promotion of organic farming;
- Increased use of bio-control
agents and bio-pesticides in agriculture as a replacement
of chemical pesticides;
- Awareness campaign through Farmers
Field Schools to educate farmers about ill effects of pesticides.
According to the
monitoring study of farm-gate and market samples of fruits and
vegetables conducted by the All India Coordinated Research Project
on Pesticide Residues, out of 359 samples of different fruits
analysed, 46% samples were found to contain residues of locally
applied pesticides such as endosulfan, cholorpyriphos, malathion,
cypermethrin, carbendazim, mancozeb, etc. However, in all these
fruits samples, the residues were found to be below the prescribed
MRL values.
Further, out of
a total of 592 samples of different vegetables analyzed, about
64% were found contaminated with residues of different pesticides.
9% of the samples contained residues above their respective MRL
values. Pesticide residues in vegetables can be decontaminated
to 80 to 100% by washing and cooking.
This information
was given by the Minister of State for Agriculture, Shri Hukumdeo
Narayan Yaday in reply a question by Shri Ekanath K.Thakur in
the Rajya Sabha today.
