21% of Kuwaiti vegetables, fruits contaminated with pesticides

KUWAIT CITY: The Director of the Desert Agriculture and Ecosystems (DAE) Program at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) Dr Mohammed Al-Bouha revealed a number of research projects carried out by the institute to develop the agricultural sector in the country using modern technologies instead of primitive and traditional farming methods are not sufficient to provide food security the future, reports Al-Qabas daily.

Al-Bouha called for taking advantage and benefiting from the scientific achievements and linking efforts with the international universities and investing them in the development of the agricultural sector. He stressed on the need to review the government support and in the area of food security and urged farmers to use new technologies of economic feasibility.

He pointed out KISR is working to complete the project ‘plant factory’ which represents a production pattern of hydroponics, and has the ability to produce throughout the year regardless of weather conditions, where plants grow in sterile rooms that prevent the growth of microbes and save 80 percent of water consumption.

He also pointed out the consequences of lenient policies and poor control of imported agricultural products facilitated the introduction and spread of agricultural pests that pose a threat to agricultural production, which led to a high rate of pesticide use which reaches 14 times during the agricultural season to put Kuwait in second place in the highest pesticide use in the Middle East. He noted 21 percent of the Kuwaiti vegetables and fruits are contaminated with pesticides.