Officials of the Plant Protection Directorate (PPD) under the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD), said that the process to procure laboratory equipments is at the final stage. Dilli Ram Sharma, program officer of PPD, said that the process to set up laboratories will begin once the Project for Agriculture Commercialization and Trade (PACT) supplies them necessary equipment.
Such laboratories will be set up in Nepalgunj, Pokhara, Butwal, Narayanghat and Biratnagar. The lab at Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market has already started operation.
According to officials, PACT is studying bids submitted by suppliers of laboratory equipments. “The selected bidder will supply equipment to PACT and PACT will hand it over to us,” Sharma said, adding: “We will install the equipment once we take delivery from PACT.”
In a bid to address growing concern over excess use of pesticides in fruits and vegetables, MoAD, two years ago, announced to set up such laboratories in different parts of the country. However, the plan to set up laboratories in other cities was affected due to delay in import of laboratory equipment.
“We are studying proposals submitted by bidders and will select one supplier very soon,” IK Jha, project officer of PACT, told Republica, adding: “We will urge the bidder to supply equipment as soon as possible so that the process to set up laboratories gets momentum.”
The lab uses Bioassay for Pesticide Residue (RBPR) technology to test pesticide residue.
“We are procuring mobile labs so that we can test pesticide residue in fruits and vegetables in the said cities as well as its surrounding areas,” Sharma said.
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