EVALUATING THE DETERMINANTS OF PESTICIDE RESIDUES IN VEGETABLES: A CASE OF
LEMON MARKET IN PAKISTAN
Abedullah1* and S. Kouser2
1Pakistan Institute
of Development Economics, Islamabad, Pakistan
2COMSATS Institute of Information Technology,
Islamabad, Pakistan
*Corresponding author’s e-mail: abedullah@pide.org.pk
ABSTRACT
In developing
countries, vegetable markets are inefficient in terms of information exchanges
between producers and consumers on food safety attributes. This study attempts
to investigate the determinants of pesticide residues and estimates information efficiency of vegetable market, using socioeconomic and biophysical
data collected from a representative sample of 360 farmers in Pakistani Punjab.
Chromatography technique is employed to quantify pesticide residues in okra, brinjal, spinach and cauliflower. A large proportion of
spinach samples (83%), followed by okra (72%), brinjal (60%) and cauliflower
(50%) have surpassed the maximum residue limits of pesticides, implying that
they are lemons. Results of pesticide residue model show that magnitudes of pesticide
residues in vegetables vary with pesticide quantity and spray interval at the
farm level. Results of information efficiency model reveal that vegetable
prices are negatively but insignificantly correlated with pesticides residues,
implying that vegetable market is a lemon market in Pakistan. Proper
implementation of food safety standards and product labeling may help to
provide safe vegetables to consumers.
Key
words: Vegetables, information
asymmetry, lemons market, gas chromatography, pesticide residues, food safety,
Pakistan.
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