The Agriculture department is streamlining the collection of surveillance samples for testing vegetables and fruits sold in the market for pesticide residues, given the growing emphasis on safe-to-eat foods.
The modifications are designed to ensure that samples are collected from all 152 local body blocks in Kerala in a systematic manner. The testing laboratory, the Pesticide Residue Research and Analytical Laboratory (PRRAL) under the Kerala Agricultural University’s (KAU) College of Agriculture at Vellayani, will publish the results on its website every month.
The department finalised the decisions on the basis of a proposal made by the Director of Research, KAU, observing that the ‘Safe to Eat Project’ needs to play a more “proactive role” in making stakeholders aware about the dangers of pesticide residues.
