I am afraid to buy vegetables from market. My roommate Jithu never buy/eat banana which is bigger than normal ones. He is worried about the injections that banana got from farmer or stockist or merchant. Same things goes with many other vegetables.
Main problem is the heavy use of chemicals at farm for protecting the harvest from insects and pests. After that, stockists and merchants apply another heavy round of chemicals so that it will remain fresh for days if not weeks. By the way, these chemicals are known to cause side effects. Just imagine your kid of 5-6 years consuming these type of vegetables every day...
This is going on for some time. Year after year chemical use in agriculture is increasing. Main problem is, many residual pesticides - which are banned for use on vegetables and fruits - will remain in the crops for 45 days or more. Which means, if you are consuming those with in time frame, you are actually taking those chemicals to your blood system as well.
This is not only affecting us, but are also creating a very bad impression for Indian products overseas. Recently, UAE tightened norms for import of Chilli Peppers, Mango and Cucumber. They also made it mandatory for Indian exporters to furnish pesticides residue analysis report for each consignment. UAE is not the first one to do that, and definitely not going to be the last one.
Last fiscal year (2015-16) alone India exported 2,62,158 tonnes of fresh vegetables and 43,591 tonnes of fruits to this tiny little city state in Middle East. Just imagine, if every major country restrict/ban Made in India vegetables then it will create a very bad impression about India itself and blow back and mistrust will not be limited to vegetables. Government, farming and merchant community needs to take emergency actions to limit the use of chemicals in agriculture.
Sajeev
Main problem is the heavy use of chemicals at farm for protecting the harvest from insects and pests. After that, stockists and merchants apply another heavy round of chemicals so that it will remain fresh for days if not weeks. By the way, these chemicals are known to cause side effects. Just imagine your kid of 5-6 years consuming these type of vegetables every day...
This is going on for some time. Year after year chemical use in agriculture is increasing. Main problem is, many residual pesticides - which are banned for use on vegetables and fruits - will remain in the crops for 45 days or more. Which means, if you are consuming those with in time frame, you are actually taking those chemicals to your blood system as well.
This is not only affecting us, but are also creating a very bad impression for Indian products overseas. Recently, UAE tightened norms for import of Chilli Peppers, Mango and Cucumber. They also made it mandatory for Indian exporters to furnish pesticides residue analysis report for each consignment. UAE is not the first one to do that, and definitely not going to be the last one.
Last fiscal year (2015-16) alone India exported 2,62,158 tonnes of fresh vegetables and 43,591 tonnes of fruits to this tiny little city state in Middle East. Just imagine, if every major country restrict/ban Made in India vegetables then it will create a very bad impression about India itself and blow back and mistrust will not be limited to vegetables. Government, farming and merchant community needs to take emergency actions to limit the use of chemicals in agriculture.
Sajeev
Photo Courtesy: Wikipedia
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