The programme is aimed at providing training on handling, maintenance and preparation of the CRMs, pesticide standard solutions and purity check by HPLC

Dr Tilak Raj Sharma, Deputy Director General (Crop Science), ICAR inaugurated the five-day training programme on ’Pesticides Residue Analysis’ organised by the Project Coordinating Cell, All India Network Project on Pesticide Residues, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.

In his inaugural address, Dr Sharma emphasised the importance of pesticide residue analysis for crop and environment protection and to ensure food safety, security and international trade. The DDG stressed that it will not only help the researchers to generate quality data on pesticide residue, risk assessment and food safety, etc., but also enable the farmers to produce safe quality food for both domestic consumption and export purposes.

The programme is aimed at providing the training on handling, maintenance and preparation of the Certified Reference Materials (CRMs), pesticide standard solutions and purity check by HPLC, fortification, recovery, basic principles of LC-MS/MS & GC-MS/MS and their maintenance and troubleshooting, etc.

Around 14 research scientists, research associates, SRFs working in Pesticide Residues Laboratories of the various state agricultural universities; ICMR; plant quarantine station and other institutes are participating in the programme.