Chennai: Indian pesticide companies have gone on an offensive against Kerala government’s negative campaign that vegetables grown by Tamil Nadu farmers are laced with high levels of pesticides.
The Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI), a consortium of over 50 manufacturers and marketers of registered pesticides and fertilizers in India, on Tuesday, came to the defence of Tamil Nadu farmers accusing Kerala of indulging in scaremongering.
The state government is silent on the issue. Certain foreign funded NGOs are playing a nefarious role behind the allegations made by the Kerala establishment, said Rajju Shroff, chairman, CCFI. The allegations are not substantiated with scientific evidence. CCFI has made public the residue monitoring study undertaken by the Kerala Agricultural University. Data shows that less than 1 per cent of the vegetables analyzed had pesticide residues above the maximum permissible limit (MRL).
Shroff said CCFI has served legal notice on Dr P. Rajendran, vice-chancellor, Kerala Agri University (KAU) for making ‘objectionable’ remarks maligning and discrediting TN farmers. The agrochemical industry also raised the issue of monitoring pesticide as per European Union (EU) standards. KAU states the tests were done as per EU standards. But India follows MRLs set by FSSAI. Also, there is no mention on the of type and levels of pesticides used.
CCFI has learnt that TN government has tested several samples during the last 10 days and has found no pesticide residues in vegetables, said S. Ganesan, public and policy advisor for CCFI. “We are investigating why Kerala is creating such hue and cry in the last six months. Our preliminary inquiry says a European NGO is involved. We will come out with details in a month’s
time”.
CCFI is possibly trying to play hero for TN farmers to protect its business interest, observers said. India’s pesticide industry’s annual turnover is '13,000 crore and '600 crore comes from Tamil Nadu alone.Shivaraj, a farmer from Ooty who was present at the press conference, said he has been cultivating vegetables for past 50 years and consuming the same. Allegations of excessive pesticide use are rumors. “We have been sending 80 per cent of our produce to Kerala for decades.”
