Producers of leafy vegetables are becoming more aware of the overuse of pesticides.
Agronomist Carlos Quiroz E., a researcher from Intihuasi INIA, said, during a seminar, that excessive pesticide applications are often unnecessary. "In addition to increasing production costs for farmers, they involve a risk due to the high levels of residues in vegetables as this can put at risk the population's health.
As part of its project "Development and validation of a quality standard through which suppliers of leafy vegetables in the public and private sector in Chile can gain access to domestic markets without limitations," the INIA held seminars which drew audiences of over 250 people in San Antonio, La Cruz, and Lampa.
The results of studies conducted in leafy vegetables (lettuce, cabbage, chard and spinach), funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, were presented in the seminars, in the course of which a production and safety standard for leafy vegetables, (applicable to providers of spinach, lettuce, and chard, intended for public and private buyers) in Chile, was developed and validated.
Researchers knew, from studies conducted by the INIA and the SAG, that there were high percentages of samples with pesticide residues, and that some even had more residues than the maximum residue limits allowed. This is due to a management style where the applications are done based on a schedule, which is often unnecessary and don't take into account the periods when there is a scarcity of product.
As a result, the goal of the INIA was to provide an overview of the phytosanitary management of leafy vegetables; and concluded that producers tend to overdo the use of pesticides. Many times, they perform unnecessary applications because the pest or disease is not present in the crops, or because the pest represents an economic risk for them.
According to Paulina Sepulveda, this assistance is very important because it facilitates the transfer of health aspects, teaching producers practical knowledge about pesticides that have a greater selectivity and lower toxicity, and the proper handling of pests and diseases. In addition, they promoted initiatives to introduce elements of integrated production with emphasis on Good Agricultural and Integrated Pest Management Practices.
Carlos Quiroz, the director of the project, said that safety in vegetables is an important issue. Lettuce, spinach, and chard are important food products and there is an objective risk for the population if those products have an excessive pesticide residue. He added: "We have noticed that there is a disposition to change health management and that producers are increasingly adopting the various protocols that we have proposed as a technical team to reduce the amount of pesticide being used in the applications." "We've been working for a long time with with farmers and vegetable producers and we believe that the change will be positive," he said.
The region of Valparaiso has 10,191 hectares, 2,156 of which are used to produce leafy vegetables, which accounts for 20% of the entire area used to produce leafy vegetables in the country.
The exhibitors presented the results regarding production practices for spinach, chard, and lettuce; as well as assessments made in the vegetable, water, and soil matrix for the presence of pesticides, fertilizers or microbiological contamination, in addition to its impact on productivity, safety and its impact on the environment. The technologies and agronomic practices that were validated were adjusted to achieve safe vegetables and improve the production's quality.