Monday, January 15, 2007

Winter vegetables in the market - sprayed with toxic?


Dressing date palm tree for collection of juice


Crop producers fetch one fifth of the price sold in the city

Boats to wholesale market

Plentyful of supply

Markets here and there

Malibagh kutcha market

Fruit vendors on street

Gafargaon variety of brinjal/eggplant

Too young to sit in the market


Hatirpul kitchen market shops, Dhaka (photo taken on 14 Jan 07)
Most vegetables in Bangladesh grow in winter season. Supply in this season is good in terms of both variety and price. The fertile alluvial plains are ideal for cultivation and growth of vegetable and fruits, and improvement of technology has led to the increase in production. Despite recent political unrest and blockade, supply of vegetables in market was plenty. Health conscious people take more interest to replace meats in their diets with vegetables.
It is disappointing that vegetable growers, handlers and wholesellers at different stages in the distribution chain are resorting to large-scale use of pesticides to preserve vegetables which is detrimental to health. Indiscriminate use of toxic chemicals to grow and ripen fruits and vegetables make them appear fresher or even last longer. Farmers are known to use toxic pesticides containing Organo Chlorinate, Mercury, Lead, Organo Phosphate and numerous other hazardous poisonous chemicals to ensure maximum production all year long. Calcium Carbide to help the bananas ripen faster and get a nice yellow colour, which is hazardous for human, contain arsenic and phosphorous synthetic colours, dyes and other chemicals used in the adulteration process.

According to newspapers, besides using locally manufactured pesticides, farmers also tend to use banned and highly poisonous Indian pesticides for its cheaper price. The most popular Indian pesticides are Thiodin, Hildon, Ostad and these are all of Hu-1 grade that don’t need frequent spraying to do wonders.
The end users pay high price for such vegetables and fruits in the market although very little reach the hands of growers due to extortion of middleman and fariahs at different levels.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Many people argue that eating too many plants grown with commercial fertilizers or pesticides can cause health problems.
Blotches or tunnels usually mean your plant has leaf miners.

This will give them time to acclimate to their new environment, avoiding stress and shock often associated with
transplanting, ensuring a healthy start.

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