The excessive usage of pesticides on fruits, vegetables and crops is causing health and environment hazards which are responsible for the loss of billion of rupees to national economy, said University of Agriculture Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Iqbal Zafar.

The excessive usage of pesticides on fruits, vegetables and crops is causing health and environment hazards which are responsible for the loss of billion of rupees to national economy, said University of Agriculture Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Iqbal Zafar. He was speaking to faculty and students at annual grand function of Department of Entomology UAF as the chief guest. Chairman Department of Entomology Dr Muhammad Jalal Arif also spoke on the occasion. He said that chemical insecticides, as predominant pest control measure, are being used to fight the problems. But, the excessive and misuse of pesticides had provoked different economic losses and hazards to human health and caused pollutions. He viewed that pesticides persist in the fruits and vegetables in the form of residues. Unfortunately, a very little effort has been done for the identification of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables. He was of the view that more than 50 per cent of marketed pesticides in the country are highly hazardous, causing skin and nervous system's toxicity. He said that drinking water which is containing pesticides can be harmful, ranging from mild headache and skin allergy to cancer. He stressed upon the need to adopt the modern pest management technique for a healthy and food secure society. He said that amid the situation of climate changes, new diseases were breaking out in the agricultural produces. He said that keeping the situation in view, the Entomology had gained immense importance. He said that Department of Entomology will be elevated to the Institute level to fight the challenges and to increase the agriculture productivity. He praised the Entomology Department for conducting a survey on the directives of Punjab Government in the cotton belt regarding record decline in cotton production in 2015. He said that it is matter of the pride for the university that Entomology Department has won two projects on pink bollworm and whitefly from PARB. He viewed if PBW and whitefly were not overcome, it would dent our agricultural production. Dr Jalal Arif said that running multiple national and international projects, the Department is partnered with Punjab Government in dengue research and control program. He said that Australia had developed a national fruit fly management plan. He said that to export the fruits we have to meet the international standards like ISO. He said that the Entomology had developed the protocol to determine Maximum Residual Limits (MRL) for the Punjab government for the registration of new pesticides. He said that use of pesticide had increased manifold in the last 20 years. The trend must be curtailed and replaced with IPM, he said. He called for ensuring latest approaches in the production, post-harvest management, processing and marketing systems. He said, “IPM is the best practice to cope with the situation based on latest approaches of pest management. He added that the department is used to hold the training, workshops and interactive session for the capacity building of the students