After a relative success in control of supply and sale of fruits and vegetables laced with pesticides in Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market, the Plant Protection Directorate (PPD) has widened monitoring to four major entry points in Kathmandu Valley.

The directorate under the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD) had initiated the pesticides control campaign in June 2014 by setting up a Rapid Pesticide Residue Analysis Laboratory in Kalimati Market, the largest wholesale market in the Valley, to check pesticide content on vegetables and fruits in the market and take action against those found selling the pesticide-laced produces that pose risk to public health.

“We found it necessary to expand the monitoring mechanism beyond Kalimati market to the crucial points from where various vegetables, fruits and imported food products enter the Valley,” said PPD chief Dilli Ram Sharma.

Beginning on Monday, the PPD started random inspection of vegetables, fruits and other food products. Such inspection will be carried out twice a week. In the early morning on Monday, Sharma along with a technical team, visited Jagati in Bhaktapur and conducted the testing. “The produces checked at Jagati were found to be safe,” he said.

The four major points of entry of vegetables and fruits are Jagati in Bhaktapur, Kirtipur, Thankot and Balaju. “We plan to conduct our inspection on regular basis in all entry points to the Valley to control the supply and consumption of farm produce that contain high pesticides content,” Sharma said.

The PPD has been conducting tests for harmful pesticide residues on vegetables and fruits in Kalimati Market on regular basis for the past two years. “The supply of products containing harmful pesticides beyond the safe limit has gone down to almost zero,” he said.