Farmer Alliance: Pesticide Data Program ‘Critical’

The Minor Crop Farmer Alliance (MCFA) recently requested that a U.S. Department of Agriculture Reorganization Plan not adversely impact the Pesticide Data Program (PDP) administered by the Agricultural Marketing Service. In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, the alliance called the PDP “a relatively small but exceptionally critical program upon which the agriculture community heavily depends.”

The letter stated that PDP activities include the sampling, testing and reporting of pesticide residues on domestic and imported agricultural commodities “with an emphasis on those commodities highly consumed by infants and children.”

According to the alliance, the data developed by the national PDP:

• Helps provide regulatory certainty for growers and packinghouses by enabling the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reliably assess actual dietary exposure to pesticide residues
• Empowers the Foreign Agricultural Service and others in supporting and facilitating the global marketing of U.S. agricultural products
• Provides guidance for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other governmental agencies to make informed decisions
• Helps monitor and confirm the safety of the U.S. food supply
• Delivers credible science-based, statistically reliable information for all consumers about the safety of fruits and vegetables.

“It has long been recognized as the type of successful, cost-effective program that the government should strive to emulate,” the alliance added. “It is critical that the PDP has the necessary resources … to assure that this important data collection effort continues. The data it generates directly impacts the ability of our members to produce and distribute their agricultural commodities.”

MCFA added that PDP “consistently helps validate the safety of these fruit and vegetable products for dietary consumption … It is vital that the PDP continues to have the requisite number of skilled personnel and adequate funding to effectively produce reliable pesticide residue data without undue disruption.”

The MCFA letter was signed by California Citrus Quality Council, California Fresh Fruit Association, California Specialty Crops Council, Florida Citrus Mutual, Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, International Fresh Produce Association, Texas Citrus Mutual and several other organizations.

Source: MCFA