Iksan City Pilots 'Nongsanmul Safety Analysis Lab'... Stable Production and Increased Reliability

Inspection of Residual Pesticides in 463 Types at the Production Stage

Jeonbuk Iksan City will pilot operate the 'Agricultural Products Safety Analysis Laboratory' until next month to ensure stable production of agricultural products and enhance regional trust.

This is being carried out to promote the Safety Analysis Laboratory and raise awareness of safe pesticide use ahead of the full-scale operation following the introduction of the regional agricultural product certification system next year.

Iksan City Agricultural Technology Center Agricultural Product Safety Analysis Laboratory. [Photo provided by Iksan City]

The 'Agricultural Products Safety Analysis Laboratory,' which tests for pesticide residues, was established in the Iksan Food Integrated Support Center with an area of 270㎡ in the first half of this year.

The center is equipped with precision analysis equipment such as mass spectrometers and recently hired specialized personnel. After a pilot operation period starting this month, it plans to begin full-scale operation next year.

Currently, under the strengthened agricultural product safety management policy, the Positive List System (PLS) for pesticide residue management is in effect.

If pesticide residues exceeding 0.01ppm are detected when pesticide residue limits for each crop are not followed or pesticides are applied to non-target crops, the agricultural products are discarded or fined, causing disadvantages to farmers.

The city expects to increase consumer trust by distributing only safe food through testing 463 types of pesticide residues before shipment, and contribute to increasing farmers' income by strengthening the competitiveness of agricultural products.

Analysis of pesticide residues in agricultural products is free of charge during the pilot operation period for farmers residing or farming in Iksan City. Farmers can request an appropriate amount of agricultural product samples to the Safety Analysis Laboratory at least 10 days before shipment.

Jeong Heon-yul, Mayor of Iksan City, said, "Recently, there has been an increasing trend of agricultural products being judged as unsuitable due to exceeding pesticide residue limits," adding, "We will do our best to increase consumer trust and supply safe food by inspecting pesticide residues in our local agricultural products."

For more details, please contact the Technology Extension Division.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.