PESTICIDE MANAGEMENT DIVISION - ONGOING PROJECTS

Monitoring of Pesticide Residues at National Level

The Monitoring of Pesticide Residues at National Level (MPRNL) scheme was initiated by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare as a central sector scheme during 2005-06 to regularly monitor pesticide residues in food commodities and environmental samples such as soil and water. One of the major objectives of the scheme is to identify crops and regions having preponderance of pesticide residues in order to focus extension efforts for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Good Agriculture Practices (GAP). The policy decisions related to the scheme are under the preview of the Steering Committee headed by the Joint Secretary (Plant Protection), Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare and the Technical Committee, headed by the Assistant Director General (Plant Protection), Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR).

The Pesticide Management Division of NIPHM is a participating centre under the scheme. Samples of food commodities such as vegetable, fruits, cereals, pulses, curry leaves, red chilli powder, milk and water are collected in every month as per the approved technical programme of the scheme and analyse for the possible presence of pesticide residues. The summarized results are forwarded to Member Secretary, MPRNL on monthly basis. The laboratory is well equipped with sophisticated analytical equipment like GC-MS/MS, LC-MS/MS, for confirmatory analysis.