Voicing concerns. Pesticide residue: Spices industry seeks better supply of approved chemicals

The non-availability of approved chemicals in spice cultivation came under scrutiny at a seminar on label expansion of pesticides.

While the government representatives pointed out the increasing use of off-label chemicals that aggravate pesticide residue problems, the stakeholders from the spice industry called for an improved supply of approved chemicals and the fixing of the maximum residue limit (MRL) in the spices.

With increasing detection of pesticides in spice produce in domestic and export markets, the issue of off-label pesticide use in spices has emerged as a major constraint in spice farming.

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Inaugurating the event organised by the Indian Institute of Spices Research in collaboration with the Spices Board, JP Singh, Plant Protection Advisor to the Government, emphasised the need for urgent collaborative efforts from government organisations, regulatory bodies, and pesticide manufacturers to find practical solutions to empower the spice farming community with effective and safe plant protection options.

Root cause

Ishwara Bhat, Director-in-Charge of IISR, pointed out that the lack of registered pesticides for spice crops favours the use of off-label chemical pesticides by the farmers often resulting in residue problems in the produce.

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He said only nine pesticides have approval for vegetatively propagated spices such as black pepper, small cardamom, and turmeric. Crops like ginger and tree spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove have no approved pesticides.

AB Remashree, Director, Spices Board, expressed the difficulty in developing good agricultural practices for various spice crops due to the limited number of approved pesticides and requested the pesticide industry to utilise the data available with research organisations for mitigating the situation.

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Speakers stressed the need to explore options for fixing temporary MRL for pesticides used in spices based on pesticide monitoring data. They also called for a relaxation in guidelines for registration and label claim expansion of pesticides for use in spice crops, considering the export value and uniqueness of the crops.

businessline earlier published an opinion piece by Thirukumaran Nagarajan, CEO and Co-Founder, Ninjacart, who said to prioritise residue-free farming over organic farming.