There is a lack of pesticide product registration on lemons in China, and Fruit farmers have no choice, use is illegal

The Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau of Guiping, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, recently investigated a case of pesticide use that did not follow the pesticide label, according to the bureau.

After investigation, the pomegranate orchard in Mugen Town, Guiping City (hereinafter referred to as the party) used 1000 times liquid of Dichlorvos product marked with pesticide registration number PD20132692 on July 1, 2023 to control aphids, silps and other pests on lemons planted in the orchard.

The range of use indicated on the label of the DDVP product is ornamental chrysanthemums. Law enforcement officers found through online enquiry that the pesticide registration certificate number PD20132692 of the pesticide product registration approved the use of ornamental chrysanthemum, Chinese cabbage, registration approval and label marked the use of the range (crops) are not lemon.

On July 4th, the staff of the Agricultural and Rural Center of Mugen Town went to the party to carry out sampling of agricultural product quality and safety risk monitoring. The operator's family picked 3 kg lemon fruit to the sampling personnel. After testing, the pesticide DDVP was detected in the lemon fruit, and the measured value was 1.9 mg/kg, exceeding the standard limit value ≦0.2 mg/kg. The reason for exceeding the standard was that the operator's family did not know the fact that the orchard had just sprayed pesticides on July 1 and did not reach the safety interval, and the sampling was checked by the sampling personnel, resulting in excessive residues of dichlorvos. The lemon products of the parties were listed in the first batch until the end of July 2023, successively listed in August, and a large number of listed in September and October, until the incident did not reflect physical discomfort after consumption, and there was no illegal income.

The parties who do not use pesticides according to the scope of use marked on the pesticide label have clear facts and sufficient evidence, which violates the relevant provisions of the Pesticide Management Regulations. However, since the illegal acts of the parties belong to minor circumstances and are the first violations of the law, they have not caused losses to others and adverse social impact, so they have a deep understanding of the illegal acts and seriously rectify them. In case handling, she actively cooperated with law enforcement officers to investigate and collect evidence, and proactively provided relevant evidence materials. Guiping Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs ordered the person to immediately correct his behavior of not using the pesticide according to the scope of use indicated on the label, and fined them.

It should be noted in particular that as of February 18, 2024, there are only 15 pesticide products registered on lemons in China, all of which are 40% Difenoconazole SC (fungicide) approved for expansion of registration on June 21, 2023, and the control object is resin disease. In addition, there is no pesticide, acaricide, plant growth regulator and other pesticide product registration, fruit farmers are faced with no drug options, the use of illegal awkward situation, urgent coordination between the relevant departments to solve.