Pesticides in Food : Issues & Perspectives

Agrochemicals are an essential requirement to boost farm productivity. They also ensure crop quality. As a consequence, we cannot wish away the use of agrochemicals in our food crops, fruits, vegetables etc. Therefore, the entire food basket is also a basket of pesticides, because none of the mass consumption vegetables and fruits grown today anywhere in the world is without extensive use of agrochemicals at some stage of production and/or shipment. Further, in heavily populated, developing countries, one has to coax the land to feed the growing number of mouths. Enhancing land productivity is a constant worry and the usage of agrochemicals is quite steep. Therefore, there is a trade-off between land productivity and risk from the amount of pesticide usage/residues in food crops/plants. And there is a need to be realistic, while being careful. Agrochemicals'' residue in food and food safety is an all pervading issue in several countries today that affects everybody''s lives. This book is an eye-opener, detailing contamination in our food basket with accounts of Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) norms, toxicological thresholds and notable experiences. It promotes an awareness of the agrochemicals-food safety debate. The objective of the book is to provide information about the agrochemicals-food safety debate, giving accounts of ADI norms, toxicological thresholds and notable experiences to enable percolation of learning lessons. It is also an attempt to circulate amongst a larger group of readers a collection of contemporary research and cases of the impact of agrochemicals on the entire food basket.