The State government has taken the first step towards
food safety certification of domestic farm produce under an ambitious
programme to ensure the supply of safe-to-eat products for consumers and
minimise the health hazards posed by constant exposure to pesticide
residue in vegetables and fruits.
Agriculture
Minister V.S. Sivakumar on Thursday distributed safe-to-eat certificates
to four farmers who supplied vegetables to the outlet. As many as 13
samples collected from the eco-shop were analysed at the Pesticide
Residue Research and Analysis Laboratory at the College of Agriculture,
Vellayani. “All the samples tested negative for the three major groups
of pesticides, namely organochlorine, organophosphate and synthetic
pyrethroid,” says Dr. Thomas Biju Mathew, principal investigator of the
KAU’s Safe- to- Eat project. “It represents the first step towards the
establishment of a monitoring mechanism to detect pesticide
contamination at source.” The Kerala Agricultural University has plans
to make the results available online, in a bid to extend the
certification process to eco-shops across the State.
Daunting task
However,
officials point out that a wider roll-out of the certification was
beset with challenges. “For one, the logistics of collecting samples and
transferring them to the laboratory is a daunting task. Getting the
testing done before the product is put up for sale is no less
important,” says an official. “Setting up a network of laboratories in
the State is even more of a challenge.”
The KAU
laboratory at Vellayani is the only one in the State equipped with a
state-of-the-art Liquid Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (LCMS) that
could detect even minute traces of pesticide residue. “It takes a
dedicated team of qualified and experienced personnel to run and
maintain the equipment costing about Rs.2 crore. Establishing a network
of such laboratories is easier said than done, considering the
requirement of funds and manpower,” says a scientist.
Source : The Hindu
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