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Abu Dhabi / WAM
The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (Adafsa) launched a campaign to educate farmers about the best practices for using pesticides safely and controlling pests, aimed at improving crop yields, safeguarding the environment and the health of human beings, and supporting the local production of vegetables and fruits.
The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority is intensifying its awareness campaign on social media, in addition to sending messages directly to farmers. Moreover, the inspectors of Adafsa’s control sector are distributing leaflets in Arabic and English to farm owners and workers, to raise their awareness over ways to handle pesticides safely.
This comes within the control sector’s constant efforts to implement the best agricultural practices and ensure farmers comply with environmental and public health requirements in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
The educational leaflets feature a detailed explanation on the best practices for using, purchasing, choosing and storing pesticides. They include guidelines for handling empty pesticide containers, tips to properly apply pesticides, and the safety intervals to be followed after applying pesticides.
Furthermore, the authority affirmed the proper use of pesticides is an important step towards achieving sustainable agricultural development, preserving natural resources and providing healthy and safe food to the public by ensuring the safety of agriculture products throughout the food chain from farm to fork. Besides its importance in the production of agriculture, the ADAFSA indicated that pesticides might pose a significant risk to human health and the environment if used improperly.
The authority noted its role in using pesticides in agriculture is complementary to awareness-raising efforts aimed at ensuring the safe use of pesticides and the safety of workers, the soil, the environment and local produce. The authority emphasised the need to educate farm owners and workers constantly, as extension campaigns contribute to raising the awareness of farmers over the importance of pesticides and ways to use them in and outside the farm.