Rampant use of fertiliser and chemical for high yield has been posing health hazards. Be it green vegetables or tuber crop, consumers should be selective before consuming them, said Sidhartha Kar, specialist on Horticulture of Krishi Vigyan Kendra under Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), Bhuaneswar on Sunday evening.
Speaking at a workshop on “How safe are vegetables we take”, organised here, Kar said the consumers need to clean the vegetables with water properly before cutting to minimize the effect of chemicals applied to them. Heavy application of pesticide and fertiliser is affecting not only the purity of vegetables but also soil fertility, he added.
Kar said high content of chemicals in vegetables has caused various diseases and lifestyle disorders like obesity, gastric, cancer, cardiomuscular problems, asthama, immune deficiency. Application of DDT has affected growth of child in mother’s womb. Kar said onions are useful to check chances of cancer while arrowroot keeps stomach cool and can be used as medicine. Similarly, leafy vegetables are useful for sound sleep. These two are preventive foods. Vegetables which are grown in kitchen garden or roof garden are preferable as they are grown with organic manure. Organic manure like vermicompost, compost and cow dung, neem leaves and plant leaves have impact on vegetable farming. Though organic farming is time consuming, the farmers should opt for it in the interest of the consumers as well as soil fertility. Kar said if the government changes its policy on organic farming and imposes restriction on use of chemicals, organic farming can be encouraged. He also spoke on organic farming, biodynamic farming, neuro system farming and nano farming. The workshop was organised by Renaissance Universal and Mission Reconstruction. Social activists, media persons, educationists, scientists, agriculturists, students and women leaders were present at the workshop.