Bengaluru: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is set to release 98 maximum residue level (MRL) values for spices soon, which specify the permissible amount of pesticide that can be present in food commodities.
Currently, only 18 such values are specified, and they are very stringent, making it almost impossible for farmers to comply. The final version of the guidance document of the standard operating procedures to fix maximum residue levels for pesticides is currently with the Prime Minister’s Office for final approval and will be released soon, said FSSAI officials.
At the international spices conference held at Leela Bharatiya on Wednesday, the use of pesticides was considered one of the biggest challenges faced by the industry. According to experts, chillies and cumin are the two spices where maximum pesticides are used.
“The biggest challenge of the spice industry is that most of it consists of small or marginal farmers. Thus, it becomes very difficult to create awareness about new technologies, quality reports, newer and safer methods of production, etc,” said Ramkumar Menon, chairman, World Spice Organisation.
“Earlier, we had very stringent MRLs. Some MRLs were not achievable. Now, a panel of residual chemists, toxicologists, and agriculturalists drew up a new draft of MRL based on the scientific database, limit of quantitation, and risk assessment based on health-based values,” said Paresh G Shah, chairman, sub-committee, Scientific Panel on Pesticide Residues, FSSAI.
“Now, the risk assessment is not done only for the average Indian but for all population classes like children, women of childbearing age, other women, general population, etc., and is aligned with Codex, an international agency,” he said. About 240 MRLs for all commodities are expected to be in the draft.
“There are a lot of retailers who try to sell various pesticides to farmers who use them without the know-how. For instance, there is a pre-harvest interval that farmers are advised to follow, during which they should not use pesticides before harvest. However, taking advice from retailers, they use it during this period, which leaves high values of residue on the food commodities,” said an expert.
Despite various challenges, the Indian spice market continues to grow. India remains the biggest producer, consumer, and exporter of spices in the world. “The focus is now on making India not just the largest producer but also the biggest in manufacturing of value-added spices like oil and extracts, retail products, curry powders, etc.,” said Ramkumar.