Children take part in collage competition at Dayanand Public School. Picture by Srinivas

Jamshedpur, Sep. 25: Forget colas, we consume pesticides with vegetables and fruits everyday.

Surprising as it may sound, but the fact is fresh vegetables are full of pesticides in the absence of organic farming. Organic farming — growing vegetables without using chemical fertilisers — is not a viable option in the competitive market, feel several farmers in the district. However, some people said the farmers are not even apprised of the advantages of organic farming as the district does not have too many village-level workers.

The village-level workers are meant to train the farmers on the right use of the pesticides in appropriate amounts but they chose to ignore this aspect of their job. As a result, the farmers are using pesticides with pre-convinced methods, in huge quantities.

Agricultural experts said after using the pesticides, plants should not be used for edible purposes at least for seven days. The plants bear the pesticide and after consumption, these chemicals remain in our body acting as poison. The farmers just take the vegetables out to the market.

City-based agriculture experts feel that the consumption of vegetable products containing pesticide can be fatal and cause several diseases. A city based agriculturist, who owns a fertiliser shop said the farmers demand for insecticides like thymate, which is highly poisonous, if used plant parts are consumed in a week. Suchit Ghosh, a physician, said: “These insecticides contain products which may cause cancer in the gastrointestinal tract. The effect of the chemicals do not get destroyed even after boiling.”

Jamshedpur (sadar) block development officer Ashwini Kumar said the workers are not able to pay attention towards the agricultural sector since they are overloaded with other work. “We have now eight village-level workers in this block,” he said.

The farmers said they prefer fertilisers because pesticides expedite growth process, which helps their business.