Pesticide residue found in unseasonable vegetables

Ranjha, April 27: The unseasonable vegetables kept for sale at Rani Talau Vegetable Market of Nepalgunj in Banke district have been found to have high levels of pesticide residue.
Of all the unseasonal vegetables, the highest per cent of pesticide residue is found in rayo sag, a leafy vegetable, according to the Central Agricultural Lab, Nepalgunj.
A lab technician at Nepalgunj, Govinda Chaudhary, shared that the pesticide residue was found in off-season vegetables during the regular sample testing.
He informed that the residue of organophosphate was 45 per cent in Rayo sag. The concentration of pesticides in food items at this scale is considered inedible.
Other vegetables were found to have 35 per cent to 45 per cent of pesticide residue, added Chaudhary. According to him, such vegetables could become safe to consume if the residue percentage comes down after quarantining them for four to five days and re-examining them.
The vegetables brought to market immediately after applying pesticides show high levels of residue, he divulged.
Vegetables grown and brought from Hirmaniya and Babugaun and India had higher levels of pesticide remains, as per the sample tests conducted in the lab.
The Department of Food Technology Quality Control at Custom Point examines the vegetables and fruits coming from India and vegetables and fruits are retested in the local lab.
The test is conducted often on a daily basis except for public holidays, said Motisara Thapa Kshettri, Chairperson of the Agriculture Produces Market User Committee.