Stanberry wants food safety culture, encourages responsible use of pesticides

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Donovan Stanberry, is urging Jamaicans to build a culture of food safety.
Mr Stanberry, who was speaking at the presentation of research findings on pesticide application by farmers, held November 17 at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, said more fertiliser was being used in Jamaican agriculture than was necessary.
He pointed out that although the application of fertilisers was necessary to increase food production, it was equally important to ensure the proper and appropriate use of pesticides to ensure the safety of both farmers and consumers.
It was against this background, Mr Stanberry said, that his Ministry had commissioned an islandwide survey of farmers’ knowledge, attitude and practices of pesticide safety.

Conducted under The Agricultural Competitiveness Programme (ACP) through the Pesticides Research and Survey Committee, the pesticide survey was aimed, inter alia, at:

• Identifying existing gaps in knowledge, skills and attitudes of farmers in using pesticides.
• Evaluating whether farmer practices could be creating health risks to the applicator and other persons
• Providing data on what farmer education topics related to pesticide residue need to be focused on and develop and implement a suitable plan and implementation
• Providing data for the Pesticide Control Authority (PCA) to make decisions for restricting or phasing out pesticides that appear to be misused by farmers and could produce pesticide contamination problems
• Assessing the Impact of PCA and other agencies on pesticide use practices since the last survey was done in 1994.
The preliminary results of the survey showed that the vast majority of Jamaican farmers were knowledgeable about fertiliser application but implications are that on-going training may be required. The data showed statistical significance between formal agricultural training and the safe use of pesticides.
The data also seemed to indicate the need for improvement in the use of protective gear when using pesticides and increased record keeping by the farmers.
Mr Stanberry said some $130 million has been spent to fully certify farmers in the agro-parks in Global GAP standards. This, he said was both to meet the strict requirements of the export trade as well as to ensure food safety for local food consumption.
Scores of farmers were presented at the event with pest control applicator certificates as well as Food Safety management Systems Certificates.
The ACP, which is funded by the Inter-American Development Bank, implemented the pesticides survey under Component 2 of its programme, which focuses on food safety and management control systems. The general objective of this component is the establishment of an Agricultural Health and Food Safety System that will contribute to increased competitiveness of the Jamaican agriculture sector and to improve the health of the human population through the production of safe food for local consumption and export.
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