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Pesticide residue: Indian grapes pass UK test

M.R. Subramani

Residues well within EU norms, says UK Govt agency

Ensuring safety
The samples, all of them the Thompson seedless variety, were tested twice on June 7 and 21.
All samples of grapes by Chile showed pesticide residues above the permissible level.
This is the second year in succession that Indian grapes have passed the litmus test

Chennai , Aug. 13

For those concerned over higher pesticide residue levels in various food items, here is something to cheer about.

Indian grapes being exported to the European countries have got a clean chit.

Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD), an agency of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has come out with a finding which says none of the retail samples of Indian grapes consignment tested for pesticide residue had been detected with level above the norms set by the European Union.

The samples, all of them the Thompson seedless variety, were tested twice on June 7 and 21 .

The samples that were tested at retail outlets were shipped by companies such as Shivprakash Agro Exports, Hari Om Agro Exports, Vijayshree Exports, Indyglobal Ventures and were among the 23 from countries such as Egypt, Brazil, Israel, Chile and Mexico, besides India.

Other countries

All the samples of grapes by Chile showed pesticide residues above the permissible level, while Brazil was the other country whose grapes passed muster. In fact, this is the second year in succession that Indian grapes have passed the litmus test of pesticide residue levels. For the other nations, the tests showed mixed results.

Export prospects

Not surprisingly, grapes export from the country is looking up. From 14,606 tonnes, valued at Rs 60 crore, during 2001-02, the shipments increased to over 35,000 tonnes, worth about Rs 120 crore, during 2005-06.

The credit for the acceptance of Indian grapes in the crucial European Union market should mainly go to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products' Export Development Authority (Apeda), an arm of the Commerce Ministry.

Apeda steps

In 2003, India received a rapid alert notification from the EU, saying at least two samples of grapes consignment sent from the country were found with pesticide residue beyond the permitted levels.

The EU had found the presence of 0.07 mg/kg of methomyl against the permitted level of 0.05 mg/kg and 0.04 mg/kg of acephate against the tolerant 0.02 mg/kg.

Acting on the notification, Apeda developed a residue monitoring plan to keep things under control.

The plan covered all farmers producing grapes for exports and it was mandatory for all exporters to register the farmers who supplied them the produce. The registration was done at the district level with the horticulture officer, mainly in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The officers had to record and maintain all data and all registrations had to be renewed every October. Also, the growers were told that they would have to use only recommended package of farm practices and not use any banned pesticide.

Also, phyto-sanitary certificates for export consignments were given to only samples that were drawn from the registered farms and tested.

As part of the plan, eight laboratories, including the National Research Centre for Grapes, Solapur in Maharashtra, were recognised for issuing the pesticide residue certificates.

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