SRINAGAR: Fifty-eight fruit and vegetable samples tested in Jammu and Kashmir were found to contain pesticide residues above permissible limits over the last three years, according to data tabled in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
The Union Government said 1,489 fruit and vegetable samples collected from JK under the Monitoring of Pesticide Residues at National Level (MPRNL) project between 2023 and 2026 were analysed, of which 58 exceeded the Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
The non-compliant samples accounted for 3.9 per cent of those tested in JK, compared with 3.1 per cent nationally, where 2,223 of 70,652 samples analysed during the period exceeded the prescribed limits.
Jammu and Kashmir was among 23 States and Union Territories where pesticide residue levels above FSSAI limits were detected. Telangana recorded the highest number of such samples at 486, followed by Karnataka with 334, Maharashtra with 260, Gujarat with 170 and Haryana with 152.
The data was provided by Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in response to a starred Lok Sabha question concerning excessive pesticide use and the detection of residues above permissible limits in agricultural produce.
The government said the MPRNL project, operational since 2005-06, monitors pesticide residues in agricultural and food commodities. Samples are collected from retail and wholesale markets, cooperatives, Agricultural Produce Market Committee markets, farm gates and organic outlets and tested through participating laboratories.
GPS coordinates of collection points are recorded to improve traceability, while samples collected directly from farms can be traced to the respective growing areas, the government said.
The findings are shared with concerned State and Union Territory agriculture departments to support awareness and training on the safe and judicious use of approved pesticides. Farmers are advised to use only pesticides approved by the Registration Committee and follow prescribed dosages and label instructions.
The Agriculture Ministry said Integrated Pest Management is being promoted through 48 Central Integrated Pest Management Centres and Locust-cum-Central Integrated Pest Management Centres.
Between 2021-22 and 2025-26, these centres conducted 1,353 Farmer Field School programmes benefiting 46,969 farmers, while 680 Human Resource Development programmes covered 37,664 farmers. Another 2,384 awareness campaigns on safe pesticide use reached 76,702 farmers, and 2,548 seed-treatment campaigns benefited 81,048 farmers.
The government has also introduced the National Pest Surveillance System, an artificial intelligence and machine-learning-based platform designed for real-time pest identification, surveillance and expert advisories.
The system also promotes the use of bio-control agents and bio-pesticides, while recommending approved chemical pesticides only when required and at prescribed doses.
The MPRNL project is currently being implemented through 40 laboratories across 22 States, with its continuation approved until 2028-29.
