Egypt plans to halve pesticide use by 2030

Egypt’s Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation El-Sayed El-Kosayer announced on Saturday that it planned to cut agricultural pesticide use to protect the environment and replace them with biopesticides.

El-Kosayer said that the country will cut 50 percent of the pesticide use by 2030, adding that the plan aims to preserve public health and the environment by ensuring food safety.

According to the Egyptian ministry’s new policy, there would be no pesticide registered until field conditions are experimented on within the country, El-Kosayer said ensuring that the pesticides shall abide by environmental and health standards.

The minister further said said that a national programme is currently being implemented to monitor pesticide residues in vegetables and fruits in local markets.

Around 5,000 samples of vegetables and fruits from 20 major markets across 17 governorates were taken during 2020, he added, saying the examinations are conducted in the ministry’s laboratories to see which fell under permissible percentages.

The ministry is tightening measures on smuggling of pesticides in cooperation with the relevant authorities, namely the Water Police and the Environment Ministry, he said.

El-Kosayer said the ministry also launched a campaign to further the indicative role of pesticide handling. It included issuing of a book on alternate ways to combat various crop pests issued for the first time during 2020 with 5,000 copies distributed for free. The book is also available online, the minister said, and has been uploaded to the Ministry’s Pesticides Committee online page.