Arishina Life Sciences teams up with Rainforest Alliance to eliminate pesticide contamination of spices

Successfully reduced pesticide contaminants to minimal values across batches of turmeric and chilly for over a year though RFA certification

Kerala-based Arishina Life Sciences- manufacturers of spices and botanical extracts has resorted to certifying its supply chain with the ‘Rain Forest Alliance’ as a move to promote sustainable agricultural practices and fight pesticide contamination of herbs and spices.

With this certification, the company has been successful in bringing down the level of pesticide contaminants consistently to minimal values across their batches of turmeric and chilly for over a year.

Arishina’s practices under Rain Forest Alliance include Promoting safe practices in cultivation & PPE usage, Promoting reforestation and related practices, Pest control management through approved chemical application, Border crop and intercrop practices, Organising health cultivation practice  awareness programmes, Conducting health camps and medical support, Wildlife protection and create value addition to the farm by introducing add-on crops like chilly as a rotating crop and onion as an intercrop.

Talking about the certification, Smiju MD, Managing Director, Arishina Life Sciences commented “Our efforts have always been focused on delivering responsible natural ingredients to our consumers. Most companies resort to the procurement of sustainable produces from Rain Forest Alliance certified farms but care less about their own internal system. The reason why we have opted to go the extra mile and certify Arishina’s own supply management with Rain Forest Alliance.

Arishina ensures the traceability of its agricultural products through constant tracking via GPS tagging and QR coding up to the level of retailing. Currently, the company has partnered with 2400 farmers from the regions across Karnataka capable of producing 2000 hectares of turmeric and 200 hectares of chilly cultivation annually.  Currently, over 350 farms have been certified through Rain Forest Alliance program.

Rain Forest Alliance is an international non-governmental organisation with a presence in over 70 countries that works towards creating a sustainable world by using social and market forces to protect nature and improve the lives of farmers and forest communities. It functions as a multi-stakeholder governance group combining the interests of companies, farmers, foresters, communities, and consumers to produce sustainable and harmonious goods.  It may be noted that high pesticide residues in spices especially turmeric and chilly have been a grave concern and impediment to the dietary and food supplement industry

Successfully reduced pesticide contaminants to minimal values