870 kg of cauliflower taken from Kapurkot in Salyan to Surkhet has been destroyed. The Cauliflower was destroyed as it was found to be unfit to eat after it was found that excessive pesticide had been used during testing by Pesticide Research and Analysis Laboratory Unit Surkhet.
Kapurkot Rural Municipality-6 Cauliflower Prawal Shahi produced by the farmers of Chanyanath Liurekhola bought and sent it to Ratan Mahtara, a businessman from Surkhet. The said cauliflower was kept for sale in the vegetable market of Surkhet.
Dhansingh Dhami, a technician at Pesticide Research and Analysis Laboratory Unit, Surkhet, said that 99.34 percent of cauliflower contains pesticides and it has serious effects on human health.
He informed that the pesticide investigation and analysis laboratory unit in Surkhet under the central laboratory of the agriculture department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Poultry Development conducted the test.
According to him, the amount of organophosphate group pesticides was found in the cauliflower taken from Kapurkot.
"Normally, if the amount of carbamate and organophosphate group pesticides in any vegetable is less than 35 percent, it is edible, if it is 35 percent to 45 percent, it will be kept in quarantine for a few days and wait, and if it is more than 45 percent, it is not considered edible and destroyed," he said .
Kapurkot rural municipality not only advises farmers not to use more than necessary pesticides, but also conducts various programs, but the village chairman Durga Bahadur Pun said that because the pesticide laboratory could not be put into operation, it could not be controlled. .
Although the technicians of the municipality and the Agricultural Development Office Salyan have been giving various advices, the farmers have been ignoring the advice of the technicians, he informed.
``Crillions of unseasonal vegetables are produced annually from Kapurkot and exported. Farmers have been planting different varieties of vegetables since three decades ago. Everyone knows that pesticides have a serious impact on health, but farmers have not stopped using more than what is needed,' he said, 'If the laboratory had been in operation, we would have tested the amount of pesticides and we would have advised to keep and destroy the vegetables that are not suitable for eating.' He says that it has caused problems. He said that farmers are not only risking their lives for money, but also risking the lives of consumers and farmers who grow vegetables in the municipality are facing various health problems.
