FARMERS have defended their use of pesticides, citing a lack of awareness among farm hands and consumer demand for “perfect” greens as the main reasons for their application.

However, the farmers said their produce is safe for consumption. They also urged the public not to panic after a Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) study revealed a large quantity of pesticides in vegetables and white rice sold in Malaysia.

Cameron Highlands Chinese Farmers Association deputy president Cheng Nan Hong told The Malaysian Insight that there was lack of education among farmers and their workers.

He also said consumer demand for “perfect” vegetables means the inevitable use of pesticides.

“I’m not trying to shift the blame to consumers, but when the market has this demand the farmers in turn pressure their workers, saying they want beautiful vegetables when harvesting, otherwise no one will take them to market.

“Workers will frequently spray pesticides to ensure that the vegetables are intact and beautiful,” Cheng said.

Another factor was that when the weather changes some farmers may spray too much pesticide because continued wet weather will result in low temperatures that are not conducive to growing vegetables.

“Some farmers directly harvest and supply the vegetables to the market without waiting for the pesticides on the vegetables to dissipate naturally.

“After spraying pesticides, they should wait three to five days but when market demand is high, some farmers will harvest their crop too soon,” he said.

Cheng believes that the above-mentioned factors may lead to excessive pesticides found on produce but in the final analysis, he said, everything is related to lack of education.

He said farmers generally use pesticides correctly and follow the directions on labels, but some do not.

“They just follow what the others say and spray, but they have yet to learn the correct quantity of pesticide to spray or how long it takes to harvest.

“To solve the problem, farmers and consumers must co-operate with each other. Farmers must be educated about the use of pesticides, and consumers must change their mindset, because intact vegetables must have pesticides.

“It is impossible to say that no pesticides are used,” he said.

Cheng also added that recently more farm hands have become their own bosses, which adds to the problem.

Undocumented workers become farmers

Federation of Vegetable Farmers Associations president Lim Ser Kwee blamed an increase in the number of undocumented migrant workers running vegetable farms.

He claimed if the government continues to ignore the issue, the consequences will be disastrous.

“They do not submit any applications to the authorities to grow vegetables, while they also take their produce direct to market.

“No one knows whether there will be problems in the process,” Lim said, adding that his federation will continue to encourage its members to apply the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry’s Malaysian Good Agricultural Practice (myGAP) policy.

“Since we started, we have had the supervision, review and testing by the ministry,” he said.

He said it was possible that excessive quantities of pesticides could be found in vegetables, but claimed that the CAP claim that 35 chemicals were found in one vegetable did not make sense.

“Although we are farmers, we are also consumers. We must grow vegetables conscientiously.

“Pesticides must be sprayed according to the instructions given, and it is impossible to spray them every day. Besides, the price of a can of pesticides is also very expensive.”

He said the CAP study hurts farmers.

“If the situation is really that serious, CAP should turn over its findings to the authorities and inform farmers, not just publish the research,” he said.

CAP study ‘misleading’

Tan Swee Huat, chairman of the Malaysian Rice Grain Wholesalers Association, also said that the CAP research would mislead consumers and cause panic.

“If CAP’s research raises consumer concerns, it could have a negative impact nationwide,” Tan said, adding that there may be a small number of rice farmers who accidentally use too much pesticide.

“Maybe they just want to protect their crops, but they don’t have enough knowledge (about correct usage), and they are still facing other problems.

“At this time, the ministry plays an important role and the matter must be resolved together with rice farmers,” he said.

In any case, Tan stressed that it is possible pesticides are found in the rice, but not when the rice is husked.

On March 1, CAP issued a statement calling on consumers to be careful when purchasing vegetables and white rice, because its research found that they contain a lot of pesticides.

The study tested 112 vegetable and 20 white rice samples, of which 98 (87.5%) vegetable samples and 11 (55%) white rice samples were found to contain pesticides.

The study pointed out that the samples were purchased from supermarkets, large shopping malls, vegetable markets and grocery stores in Penang.

“Most of the vegetables come from Ara Kuda, a major vegetable farm in Penang.”

CAP also encouraged consumers to grow their own vegetables. – March 10, 2023.