Pesticide Residue Found In Unseasonable Vegetables

The unseasonable vegetables kept for sale at Rani Talau Vegetable Market of Nepalgunj in Banke district have been found having high level of pesticides residue.

Of all the unseasonal vegetables, the highest percent of pesticide's residue is found in rayo sag, a leafy vegetable, according to the Central Agricultural Lab, Nepalgunj.

Lab technician at Nepalgunj, Govinda Chaudhary, shared that the pesticides 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 pesticide 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 residue percentage comes down after quarantining them for four to five days and reexamined.

The vegetables brought to market immediately after applying pesticides show high level of residue, he divulged.

Vegetables grown and brought from Hirmaniya and Babugaun and India had higher level 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 vegetable and fruits are retested in the local lab.

The test is conducted often on a daily basis expect for public holidays, said Motisara Thapa Kshettri, Chairperson of the Agriculture Produces Market User Committee.