The Agriculture Department in Kerala is all set to open four high tech laboratories in the state to detect the presence of dangerous pesticides in vegetables.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, minister for agriculture, V S Sunilkumar said that the presence of dangerous chemicals has been detected in vegetables coming from other states. Some farmers also illegally bring banned pesticides from other states.

He added that nowadays, new generation pesticides are used and it is essential to study their composition and gravity of danger.

Currently, the pesticide testing is conducted at the National Institute of Plant Health Management, Hyderabad which takes time. Therefore, new laboratories are slated to come up in Thrissur, Palakkad, Kozhikode and Kasaragod so that the testing can be completed in three hours. The Cashew Development Corporation's laboratory in Kollam will also lend a hand for this purpose.

The minister also said that it is important for Kerala to be self-sufficient in vegetables. Currently, there is a requirement of  20 lakh tonnes of vegetables, of which only 7.5 tonnes are produced here.

The department has organized ‘A tray of vegetables for Onam' scheme, wherein five types of vegetable seeds are distributed among 63 lakh households with the aim to stop depending on other states for vegetables.