Muscat – Use of banned pesticides and improper methods of using licensed ones on agricultural crops cause damage to the environment, which negatively affects human health, animals and plants, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources (MAFWR) stated.

Eng Nasr bin Saif al Shamsi, Director of Plant Protection Department at MAFWR, said that improper use of pesticides, whether of banned products or for unscientific methods, contributes to the exacerbation of global warming following gaseous emissions that eventually may cause acidic rain.

Improper or unscientific use of pesticides results in soil pollution, besides causing toxic pollution in the environment, he explained.

“Soil pollution also impacts aquatic life, besides harming plants, which in turn raises the risk of poisoning for anyone consuming fish or plants or vegetables from the area.”

According to Shamsi, inspectors from the Agricultural Control and Licensing Department made 1,710 visits to local farms in 2022, and took 263 crop samples to study pesticide residue.

“Around 97 per cent of the samples were found to be free of pesticide residues, while 3 per cent had traces of residues. Legal measures were taken against the culprits,” the MAFWR official said.

The ministry created the Agricultural Control and Licensing Department to complement the system of work in agricultural development, and to implement campaigns on farms, agricultural establishments and markets to ensure compliance with agricultural pesticides trading in the local market, limit the circulation of banned and expired pesticides, and arrest violators.

Ibtisam Khamis, head of the Chemical Classification and Management Department in the Department of Chemicals and Waste Management of the Environment Authority, confirmed that the potential threats from pesticides include health risks for being carcinogenic, physical risks for being highly inflammable, and environmental risks for causing pollution, besides making water bodies toxic.

“Oman is keen to accede to six international agreements concerned with restricting and banning some highly dangerous materials, the production and use of these materials, and the study of their effects on the environment,” she added.